7 BEST FREE APPS

 The best Android apps (June 2021)

Today’s latest smartphones are capable of a great many things right out of the box, but to reach their true potential, you’ll need to tap into the vast marketplace of third-party apps. Since the launch of the Android Market (now known as the Google Play Store) in 2008, apps have been steadily improving the Android experience. From the apps that help with daily tasks like balancing a checkbook or calculating a tip, to integrated apps with business communication platforms, there’s an app out there for every purpose.

With over 3 million apps listed on the Google Play Store the choices can be a bit overwhelming. We’ve done the work of putting together a list of the 100 best Android Apps across a number of categories to help you pick the best apps for your daily life.

Can 2 billion people be wrong? The biggest social network on the planet has a decent official app. Keep up with your friends and family, jump into instant chats, and stay informed with push notifications. Best of all, Facebook isn’t just a place to share content stolen from Reddit and Twitter, as the world’s biggest social media site has also been pushed out into sections for dating, shopping, and videos. Pair it with Messenger for the ultimate double-act.

7 BEST FREE APPS 

Android has overtaken iOS as the UK's most popular smartphone platform. We pick the best of its 450,000 apps, for music fans, children, gamers, shoppers… There's even an antidote for app addiction

More than 450,000 apps are available on Google Play, which is generating more than 1bn app downloads every month. The latest Android smartphones are also viable competitors to the iPhone (stylish and powerful phones from companies such as Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson have been flying off the shelves in the UK), but Android apps haven't always had a great press. Android has been criticised on security grounds, with accusations that there are more viruses and malware apps on Google's store than on Apple's App Store. However, Android apps have to ask for explicit permission to access your personal data and phone features, so familiarise yourself with these permissions requests when installing apps and you'll be less at risk.

Big games such as Grand Theft Auto III and Angry Birds Rio now launch on Android at the same time as on iPhone, while all the major social networking apps are also available on both. There is a growing catalogue of useful productivity tools and lifestyle apps, while Google has ensured that its key web services all have polished incarnations for Android.

Over time, Google has made it easier for people with Android smartphones to find new apps, too. Its recently rebranded Google Play store has improved greatly on the one available when the first Android phone went on sale, but as with iPhone, finding the best apps can still feel like rooting through a digital haystack; apps such as Appsfire (featured here) are making the needle hunt less of a chore.

Android is interesting, because it attracts two very different kinds of people: on the one hand, tech-savvy users who have made a decision to choose Android over iPhone and regular phone users who want a nice smartphone for a more affordable price. We've taken as read that you'll be installing some of the most obvious apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Amazon Kindle, BBC iPlayer and eBay, which is why they aren't in this list.

We've left out some very good apps due to restrictions on their availability or the phones they work with. Google Chrome browser (currently restricted to the handful of handsets running the latest Ice Cream Sandwich Android software) and excellent keyboard app Swype (still in beta and not available on Google Play) are two examples. However, the fact that they will be available for all Android users in the near future is another reason for smartphone owners to feel excited about the future of their gadgets. This list of 50 apps is a starting point, but there is plenty more in store.