The most popular, interesting and useful applications of the outgoing year in a small author's selection.
In this material, I want to summarize the calendar year striving for its completion from the standpoint of applications that are significant for Android – the community in general and me in particular. Not all applications in the collection were released exactly in 2016, some of them won their place in the list of installed programs on my devices only in the past year and therefore were included in the collection.
Prisma
(Prisma Labs Inc.)
One of the undoubted hits of the year, to which Russian developers are more than involved, from an application for artistic processing of photos using filters built on neural networks and artificial intelligence, has turned into a kind of social network in which users share their images and get acquainted with the creations of people from all over the world . Not to say that I am a fan of such services, I don't use anything like that, but I am very impressed by the very idea and implementation of Prisma, the application combines the innovative capabilities of the software and the general trend of processing photos directly on a mobile device.
It is worth noting the quality of the output images, it turns out very nicely with minimal user actions. Thus, it is possible to add even more charm to the memorable frame, for this the user has an impressive list of filters that imitate the style of a particular artist / movement.
Author – Dmitry Bevza
What's the cover without Potatoes?
Cool application, do not find fault, you can advise absolutely everyone. The only moment may be working on devices of medium and budget level, where the processing of photos may take a little longer.
Cost: Free
Requirements: version Android 4.1+
MSQRD
(Facebook)
A modest at first glance, but quite interesting entertainment application from the Belarusian company Masquerade Technologies literally blew up the world media space in one spring week, after its work was shown on the air of one of the Western talk shows. This was followed by numerous reviews on the net, in a matter of days, downloads of the application from Google Play skyrocketed, and five days later the application was sold Facebook, like the developer company. Not bad for the first week, isn't it? MSQRD is one example of how the 'ingenious-simple' rule works: applying masks to users' faces in real time using the device's camera.
Screenshots are hard to convey the concept of MSQRD, so give it a try, if you haven't tried it yet, share it, have fun. As the application has evolved, textures have become much lighter and faster. Unfortunately, in the Android – version the number of available masks is less than in a similar application by iOS. For the rest, there are no complaints, advise lovers of 'self'.
Cost: Free
Requirements: version Android 4.3+, age category 7+ (intimidation)
Uber
(Uber Technologies Inc.)
One of the features of my main employment is the irregular working day, which ends at night, after the subway closes. Therefore, after moving to the capital, one of the questions was finding a reliable and preferably inexpensive taxi service, which did not need to wait for forty minutes. Through trial and error, going through small aggregators and well-established taxi services, I came to Uber. What can I say, the fastest possible delivery time, adequate prices, the drivers are competent and polite (only once there was an unpleasant moment when a person did not follow the route), promotions and sudden promotional codes, electronic receipts by mail, payment by card or cash – all this is done by the service ideal for me as a frequent taxi passenger.
The downside is the limited presence in the regions, so upon arrival in other cities you have to look for more or less decent services, which often does not bring the desired results. But that's another story. Uber decides, I would like to wish the company further development in Russia, as much as possible in the current environment. Advise those who often visit capitals and other cities where the service operates.
Cost: Free
Requirements: version Android depends on the device
Reddit
(reddit Inc.)
Those who subscribed to me in Twitter (unlikely, but still) could read about my research on the unstable operation of Mi Band 2 on a single charge. The fact is that a friend bought two bracelets, one worked very badly, completely discharging in two days. The second one was intended as a gift to me and in fact showed quite adequate results, however, the interest remained. Through many searches and trying to squeeze something out of the local representatives of the company, I realized that at the moment the only way to find the truth is Reddit, more precisely, a topic thread dedicated to the mentioned tracker. Later I decided to install Android – the client of the service, since the latter was recently released on Google Play.
Subsequently, I repeatedly returned to the application in order to find an answer to one of the technical questions that arose, which is typical – often the answer was found. Reddit is a great way to find information on a topic of interest, the only drawback is the lack of Russian localization, the overwhelming majority of correspondence is carried out in English. Advise those who are desperate to find an answer to their question on the RuNet.
Cost: Free
Requirements: version Android 4.1+
Signal Private Messaging
(Open Whisper Systems)
Despite the fact that the client was mentioned in the review a year and a half ago, his 'arrival' in my smartphone took place quite recently, but, apparently, for a long time. Signal has confidently replaced Textra as the main SMS client due to its convenience and lack of redundant functionality. The security of the application, confirmed by tests and the opinion of the well-known NSA whistleblower, played a role, of course.
The client uses end-to-end encryption, which means that the application must be installed on the sending and receiving devices. In this case, the channel through which the messages are exchanged is protected.
Application features:
- the ability to securely exchange free messages with TextSecure / Signal users (iOS)
- option to protect chats from screenshots
- password protection of notifications on the lock screen
- auto-deletion of chats upon reaching the selected number of messages
In general, I advise. It is a pity that there are not so many Signal users among my circle of friends, I wanted to try the PC version, but so far, probably, not destiny. Thanks, CyanogenMod, for the suggested application, RIP.
Cost: Free
Requirements: version Android 2.3+
Telegram
(Telegram Messenger LLP)
Having become the top one for me (and for many of my friends), the messenger is confidently gaining momentum in Russia, despite the fact that it was originally conceived as a solution for foreign markets. Only the lazy one did not write about the client, including on our resource, your humble servant also could not pass by the application even at the stage of its first release, even then the application seemed to me promising. And what? This year Telegram has suddenly become my main means of communicating with friends and colleagues, this is for the best, Viber and WhatsApp are unrealistically pulled out by their limitations and lack of clear cross-platform functionality.
The application uses the MTProto protocol, which allows you to use several methods of protecting information. Telegram encrypts all correspondence using RSA-2048, AES and DH algorithms using SHA-1 and MD5 cryptographic hash sums. Another feature of the Telegram concept is the decentralization of servers – they, according to the developers, are located in different countries, which will significantly complicate the theft of correspondence data. The same feature promotes fast communication – the service connects to the nearest server and uses a very small amount of data, which will be very useful for users in an area with unstable network coverage.
I advise everyone without exception, in my opinion, there is nothing better on the market at the moment. This fact is confirmed by the number of downloads and functional features of the messenger.
Cost: Free
Requirements: version Android depends on the device
ZType
(Phoboslab)
The game already mentioned in one of the reviews has firmly taken its place among entertainment applications on the phone, sometimes I go from a PC, but the effect is not the same, I return to my smartphone. A great way to while away the time on the subway / taxi or a quick get-together in a cafe, it will improve your spelling in English and improve your typing speed, even if I use Swype. True, those around them look strange, you see, they are used to the fact that people play something like 2048 or Color Switch.
Cost: Free
Requirements: version Android 4.0+
The room
(Fireproof Games)
In this case, I am considering a series of games, the trilogy surprised me and I went through all three parts almost in one breath (hello, sleepless nights). Just an incredible puzzle, I haven't been so keen on the gameplay for a long time. Cool design, challenging puzzles, alternative endings, the general atmosphere of the game – everything is solid five, my favorite in terms of games this year, no options. Despite flashing the smartphone, I installed all three parts in sequence and went through it again, the pleasure from this did not diminish.
Cost: 59 – 279 rubles.
Requirements: age category 7+ (intimidation), version Android 4.0.3+
Pocket casts
(Shifty Jelly)
Editor's Choice, Best Developer – these are the titles the user receives from the application page on Google Play. And the rewards are justified: the developer has turned out to be a very cool client, with which only Podcast Addict can compete. The Material concept works here 100%, even if it's a little outdated, but still.
One of the purchases that I did not regret for a second. Before traveling, I download several episodes of my favorite podcasts and enjoy listening offline on the go, and also often launch the web version of the service in the process of translating articles for the Gazebo and preparing materials. Convenient, beautiful, reliable, you can safely recommend it to familiar music lovers.
Price: 150 rubles
Requirements: version Android 4.4+
Spotify
(Spotify Ltd.)
Leader in the number of used 'tambourines' this year. Downloading the app is 10% of the trouble, the attempt to purchase a premium subscription brought an order of magnitude more trouble, if not for the advice of a respected person from the vastness of Twitter, I would probably still be on Play Music. Yes, there was a subscription to a service from Google, but the slow updating of the catalog, along with an openly stubborn recommendation system, predetermined my choice and subsequent transition. Spotify managed to easily replace the analogue from Google, and there are many factors: high-quality selections, the ability to control playback on a PC from a smartphone, a variety of music (exclusives), an unrealistically accurate system of 'guessing' songs based on the material heard, design!
In the premium version, you can also download music for later listening without an Internet connection, unlimited playback control. Spotify's settings are, in my opinion, much more varied than the competitor's Play Music, there are many interesting options. The application, unfortunately, is not officially available in Russia, as well as registration, as well as our bank cards. But that never stopped us, did it?
Cost: free, subscription depending on the selected country
Requirements: version Android depends on the device
Instead of an afterword, let me paraphrase Eldar Viktorovich: 'Is there anything to add? Write in the comments! '.