Android Apps 2020

February 5, 2020
Android 5.0.2

Updated June 12, 2021

I don't want to make a whole new page for these apps so I'll just update them here. Most are still the same and they also work on android 10.

I thought I make a new page for the android phone apps instead of updating the old one as many of these have changed. I know there are more updated version of android but I know there are many people still using the older phones. These are apps that help you get things done without all the ads and junk that no one needs. At least I try to just use apps that work without all that junk. Unfortunately it's very hard to find apps that just work and not interfere with your phone. So just make sure to read under each title and when you first install them to see what you are installing. These are in no particular order.

1. Linguee - Multi language dictionary that can be use online and offline without ads.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.linguee.linguee&hl=en_US

2. Mobi calculator free and AD free - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=my.android.calc&hl=en_US

3. Mopria print service - Used for printing from your android device.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=mopria%20print&c=apps&hl=en_US

4. Iprint and scan from brother if you have brother printers.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=iprint%20brother&c=apps&hl=en_US

5. You can also use the built-in google print as well.

6. Smartoffice - You may need to edit a document once in a blue moon. Microsoft word is no longer available for this older android. Smart office is a very small program compared to just word when I used it and works well without ads and junk you don't need. I don't know anyone who will be using a phone to make large documents so this works well.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.picsel.tgv.app.smartoffice&hl=en_US

7. Openoffice viewer - Although you can open Microsoft documents with smart office, it won't open otd documents. Here's a reader for those, but you won't be able to edit them unfortunately.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sjava.openofficeviewer&hl=en_US

8. Xodo - This is just a nice pdf reader without any ads and junk you don't need.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xodo.pdf.reader&hl=en_US

9. Office Lens - This app helps you take pictures of documents. The only thing is that it is a large program and doesn't always get the whole page in the lines so it's still a bit hard to use. You can just change to picture and that will also work. I like the fact that it automatically straightens the documents and brings them up to the front focus which helps a lot.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.officelens&hl=en_US
I have started using google stack instead of office lens. It's faster than office lens and seems to work a little better. I just need to get the actual jpg files instead of just a pdf file as I found I can't attach those to some places that want and actual image. So this is a bit annoying and now they call it a pdf scanner which I hope they change.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.area120.paperwork&hl=en_US&gl=US

10. Google keep notes - This works fine if you use the google apps as you can also take pictures and store them in your note. This feature has come in very handy in remembering numbers for some things I needed to remember.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.keep&hl=en_US

11. Google files - A simple file manager without any ads and also allows you to clean your junk files.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.nbu.files&hl=en_US

12. Google photos - If you have a phone with very low memory storage, you can use this app to automatically upload your files to the cloud with your account and keep your phone space free. There is nothing more annoying that having a full memory and nothing works.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos&hl=en_US

13. Facebook lite - Again, if you have an older phone or a phone with very limited memory and/or storage, use the lite version instead of the full version to save space.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.lite&hl=en_US

14. Facebook Messenger lite - You will also need this in order to get the full working facebook app since they work together but at least they are the smaller versions.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.mlite&hl=en_US

15. Android Auto - This is the gps version of the google maps. If you need to find a place, just open the app, hit the arrow button on the bottom to start the gps search, type in what you are looking for, address, restaurant, etc. and select it to go there. There's no need to type the address unless that's what you need. This one works great. So if you get lost, just use this app. Your phone does need to be online in order to work though. It jus doesn't work offline since it needs to know your location.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.projection.gearhead&hl=en_US

16. Simple calc - Many calculators have ads and some included are way too basic. Not to mention horrible user interfaces.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bng.calculator&hl=en_US

17. Here's another decent file explorer. Cx file explorer. It's a nice clean no ads or junk program.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cxinventor.file.explorer&hl=en_US&gl=US

 18. Just another calculator with more options and no ads.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scientific.calculator&hl=en_US&gl=US

Obviously there are many more apps that people may or may not use, but these are the more basic ones that I think many will need for basic use.