100 BEST APPS

Don’t let iPhones and iPads have all the fun: these fantastic apps showcase your Google device’s ability to more than match Apple

CONCEPTS

Almost everything you own started life on a drawing board; Concepts takes pro-orientated scrawling into the digital realm. With your device and a stylus, you can use realistic tools to jot down ideas on an infinite canvas, with a customisable wheel to quickly access presets; and since it’s vector-based, every line remains editable. 

£free (IAP) / Android, iOS

SMOOTH TRACK

This one ramps up gaming immersion without the need to don a sweaty VR headset. Your phone tracks your head’s movements, which are relayed to compatible PC games. Ideal for gawping out of windows and seeing what’s around you in Microsoft Flight Simulator. 

£9.49 / Android 

£9.99 / iOS

DJAY

If your dream is to spin decks in front of a frenzied crowd of adoring fans, get some practice in with this app. The intuitive interface means even noobs can ‘UNCH UNCH UNCH’ into the wee small hours… but hook up Tidal, delve into the looper and integrate some hardware, and they’ll soon be calling you the next Peggy Gou. Probably.

  £free (IAP) / Android, iOS

DUET DISPLAY

Think it’s unfair that your Android device gets some downtime when you don’t? Then put it to good use as a second screen for your PC or Mac by way of Duet Display. This also means you can interact with laggard computing platforms that haven’t yet embraced touch by prodding at your Android device – win-win. 

£9.49 / Android● ● £9.99 / iOS

INFINITE PAINTER

Always fancied seeing your art in a gallery but never got further than doodling on your thumb with a pen? Then try Infinite Painter. You get all the magic of realistic brushes but none of the mess. There are layers, masks, cloning tools and, for pros, the means to export paintings as layered PSDs. 

£free (IAP) / Android

TASKER

Do you want your smartphone to be smarter? Tasker automates actions based on conditions that you define. For example, you can stop your phone bugging you when it’s face-down, pump up the volume while playing music, turn on auto-rotate only when viewing photos, or reduce brightness for bleary mornings. 

£3.19 / Android

STOP MOTION STUDIO PRO

Got an idea for a gritty Morph reboot? This app provides a usable yet powerful entry into stop-motion animation. You can shoot live or import everything from stills to scribbles… then add audio, export, and await the call from Hollywood. Or Aardman’s legal department. 

£4.99 / Android, iOS

POWERAMP

There’s nothing wrong with listening to music in a streaming service’s app. But when you want something more, there’s Poweramp. Load whatever formats you please, make tracks sound great using the ten-band EQ, and adjust the UI to make your music an extension of you, rather than some corporate brand. 

£3.99 / Android

POWER DIRECTOR

We’re not thrilled about the £30+ annual sub for this video editor, but it is great. Load a bunch of clips (up to 4K) and you can rapidly but precisely cut your mini movie, stabilise wonky shots, add titles, experiment with overlays, then foist your creation on YouTube and Facebook. 

£free (IAP) / Android, iOS

CUBASIS 3

In the olden days, crafting a smash hit required a studio that cost as much as a house; today you can create sonic masterpieces on your phone. And this is no reductive app: you get a slew of virtual instruments and loops, unlimited audio and MIDI tracks, virtual keyboards and pads, and a studio-grade mixer. Sadly, there’s no ‘extra talent’ IAP. 

£48.99 / Android, iOS

NOW ADD THIS

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S7+

Sure, you can run these apps on your phone. But if you want to fully unleash the power of the best Android apps – with enough space to mix music or scribble a masterpiece – you need a larger canvas. The 12.4in OLED display on the Galaxy Tab S7+ gives you that. More importantly, this tablet has plenty of power thanks to its Snapdragon 865+ CPU, along with a punchy quad-speaker system to keep your head bobbing to top tunes while you work. 

£719 / samsung.com