Here are 10 apps that I always install on my smartphones

I use many smartphones, my own and those for testing, I change them every week or two, but even the most interesting smartphone means nothing without good applications. Their list is also changing, but there is a set of 10 items that almost always appear in my smartphones, which makes me feel at home even with a new phone.

Of course, there are many more applications that he always installs on his smartphones - some of them are the basic tools I use at work, such as Outlook or Slack, others are apps that support accessories or smart home devices from various manufacturers, such as Xiaomi, Huawei or Samsung, there are also popular and well-known multimedia services, such as Spotify, TIDAL or Netflix, as well as banking applications and stores of online sales platforms. These are programs that everyone "installs" depending on their own needs, of course. However, there are also ten that do not fit into these obvious categories. Here she is!

Nova Launcher - the coolest desktop in Android

Nova Launcher is one of the apps that was used in the times of such nightmares as Samsung's Touch Wiz, and clean Android was poor, teeth hurt. Well, I have been using an app like this until today. I bought Nova Launcher in the Prime version 8 years ago and it still comes in handy.

Today's interfaces of Samsung, LG or Huawei smartphones are so mature that the temptation to change the runtime is not great, but just privately, apart from tests, I most often use phones with the default interface from pure Android or its own modifications from other manufacturers. And that's where Nova Launcher works perfectly.

Nova Launcher allows you to replace the default desktop on any Android smartphone and customize it to your needs. The number of setting options is enormous. Icons can be arranged in any grid layouts (4x5, 5x6 etc.), resize them, turn labels on and off, you can also personalize folders, the list of applications, gestures to handle the whole, notifications from applications, etc. etc.

Using this launcher, probably everyone will be able to set the appearance of the phone as they like. I do this myself: I remove the dock and the bottom of the screen is empty, I set a grid of 6x5 or 7x5 icons, installs additional icons from Google Play (my favorite recently is the Desaturate set), and I embed 9 or 12 icons on each of the scrolled desktops. I simplify the list of applications to the maximum, I add the Nova Google Companion plugin from Google Discovery, I turn on the dark theme with red accents everywhere and I already have my own, minimalist interface - fast, convenient, intuitive and unique.

Nova Launcher is available in the Play Store for free (with a smaller selection of features), and the full version of Prime costs about PLN 18.

Opera - the most convenient mobile browser

Opera browser is the second thing I install on Android, and sometimes even the first. And it is an application without which I absolutely cannot imagine using a smartphone.

What is Opera like? For me, this is a natural choice, because I also use Opera on a computer. Thanks to this, I can synchronize with my PC bookmarks and speed dials, passwords (those less important from the security point of view) or browsing history. All this data is stored in an Opera account in the cloud, so every browser installation gives you instant access to the same resources.

However, this is not the most important thing. When I start Chrome on a new phone, after a few minutes I have enough. I'm installing Opera. Opera has a comfortable, clean interface that is highly customizable and in my opinion provides the greatest convenience on soaring screens over 6 inches. I like this browser for the functions that are a whip on too fancy website layouts: scaling text on pages while breaking them to the width of the screen (this is missing in most mobile browsers), for the night mode (black background and adjustable color temperature), for the reader mode ( converts the page into text only, without pictures and unnecessary ornaments), and not only for blocking ads with the admission of accepted ones, but also for automatic approval of cookie messages. It's a brilliant thing, although she's been passing some recently.

When I'm in poor internet coverage, I can easily turn on bandwidth saving, and when I want to visit American sites as an American, all I need to do is activate the VPN and use the card in private view. Sometimes it saves the selected pages as PDF. An addition to the basic synchronization option is Flow, a function that allows you to transfer notes, links or files between a PC and a smartphone, which is useful when I find something cool on my phone, but I want to use it on my computer. There are a few other additions, and although there are browsers with a similar set of tools or larger, only in Opera they have been put in such a simple and convenient form for everyday use.

The browser has its own versions (Opera Touch, Opera Mini), but I use the classic one. You can download it from the Play Store. There is a Touch version for iOS.

Locus Map - off-road map and navigation

Sometimes I like to wander in the distance on roads and off-road, and for such purposes the off-road Locus Map navigation is just right. This is not the only app of this type that I use (others are: OsmAnd +, OruxMaps or ViewRanger), but Locus has recently convinced me with cool plugins for smartwatches - you can display the map or navigation directions on the watch screen.

Locus Map gives you all the possibilities in your smartphone. Maps can be downloaded directly from the application from various sources, including free ones like OpenStreetMaps. On the Internet, you can also easily find additional maps in other formats such as MAP, SQLite, TAR, MBT, GEMF, Orux or RMA. A good choice is to use the paid maps of the Locus creators - for the price of one or two beers a year, I get constantly updated maps with four styles to choose from: hiking and biking, skiing, city and road. Their data is very detailed, and I get a very large set of off-road navigation functions.

Locus Map enables navigation - 2D car navigation, but above all in the field - by bike or on foot. Along the roads or just to the destination. There were also functions for saving the track, importing and exporting routes, as well as sharing them in services and applications. The add-on is a live tracking option that allows you to share your location in real time. There are also features for monitoring sports activities, including an audio coach, graphs, statistics, and support for external Bluetooth or ANT + accessories. Locus Map also provides information about the weather, allows you to play Geocaching,

The free version of Locus Map Free displays small banner ads, but otherwise the program provides the most important functions. I use the Pro version myself, which currently costs about PLN 40. The only thing I miss with Locus Map is the option to sync my own data between devices, which is what ViewRanger has for example.

Locus Map Free can be downloaded for Android

Waze - social on-line navigation

The locus is good in the field, what about the road? My first choice is Waze. This is an Israeli application that was acquired by Google a few years ago. A characteristic element of Waze is its slightly comic-like interface, especially icons and symbols, but you should not be hinted at by it - it is navigation very seriously.

The program is free, and the maps are also free, but you can only use them online. It requires constant access to the Internet, but it also has advantages - the maps are constantly updated by application developers with the help of users. Users are the most important here, because Waze is primarily a social application. Any wazer seeing an incident on the road: traffic jam, accident, road works, road closure, speed camera or police patrol, can instantly notify the community. Reports are immediately included on the map as warnings for other drivers, and if they prove valuable to them, they are scored "paw up".

Compared to Yanosik, which is probably the definite leader of Polish driver assistants, Waze may not be that good, but Yanosik scares me off with an overloaded interface with ads. It's also rare for me to have Waze not notify me of something really important. The community of Polish Waze users is so large that driving around the country always provides me with important information. Waze will also work throughout Europe - vases are everywhere. After starting the application, the user is informed how many vases are in the area, what's more, he can see the icons symbolizing them on the map, and even send them a message.

Waze maps are based on several or even a dozen sources, depending on the country. Their accuracy is quite good, new streets and roads appear without undue delay. By indicating the destination, we can add intermediate points or designate an alternative route. The mode of planning the navigation with a commute for a specified period is interesting - the program will notify that you have to go there. Integration with the calendar is also useful - the application itself reminds you that it's time to get in the car and go to the recorded meeting.

Waze is definitely not the best on-line navigation, but it also has such features that I always like to come back to this application.

Download for Android and iOS

NetMonster - easy identification of 5G base stations

I started using this application relatively recently - since 5G testing started. While there are quite a few similar tools, one thing stands out on the plus side: it shows which base station the phone is connected to, and it also identifies 5G relays well. Other similar applications (formerly BTSearch, now Netmonitor with a BTS database and others) also prove themselves in various applications, but NetMonster is probably the only one that fully copes with our 5G networks in DSS at 2100 MHz, identifying them also in Dual SIM. This is important because many smartphones show the 5G symbol on the top Android bar, although at the moment the device is not logged in to the 5G layer, but only to the DSS anchor in 4G.

The first launch of NetMonster involves downloading the current operator database - it can be set as a cyclical task. Stations are also detected and identified by the application when moving between stations, there was no shortage of data import from a file.

Notifications about the phone logging in to a specific relay are visible in the notification bar, so you do not need to have the application running all the time. There are four tabs in the main window. The first is the log where all base stations are grouped to which the phone logged in while the application is running (also in the background). The Live window shows the parameters of the base stations the phone is connected to. The Graphs tab, on the other hand, displays signal strength indicators such as RSSI or RSRP. The last tab is the map - it shows exactly where these relays are, and the active ones are marked with a crown symbol.

On the map, I miss the ability to display all available BTSs from the database, but only those previously logged in. More precise frequency information would also be useful. Despite its simplicity, NetMonster is good for quickly locating and identifying nearby base stations.

NetMonster is available for Android.

Lifts - live weather: sea and mountains

Lifts is not a typical weather application to quickly check "if it is raining outside the window" - it is an extensive combine that visualizes the weather forecast in almost real time, with a refresh every 5-15 minutes, depending on the region. On the map of the whole world, you can observe moving rains, blizzards, storms, blowing winds or clouds. A few years ago I spotted the lifts from a fellow sailor during a cruise in the waters of Norway. There, this application turned out to be an invaluable tool that allowed to estimate the dangers and plan a further voyage in advance. However, it will also work on land, also for forecasting local weather throughout Poland.

When you open the Elevator, a map with a typical weather radar appears. However, you can switch between more customizable layers, some of them very detailed. For example, you can observe three types of clouds separately - high, medium and low. In everyday life, of course, you will need basic layers on which you can track changes in temperature, upcoming downpours or blizzards. Among the layers of the Elevator, there is also one that shows the air quality - e.g. the concentration of NO2 or PM2.5.

The application shows a standard forecast for the selected location, but you can also use the player at the bottom of the screen to turn on the forecast for the next days, presented in the form of a moving visualization.

The weather data for the Elevator is provided, among others, by the American meteorological institution NOAA and the European organization EUMETSAT, managing the system of meteorological satellites.

Windy is a free application available for Android and iOS. You can switch to a paid subscription in the application.

Solid Explorer - with it you can reach any Android file

This is one of the apps I started using at a time when Android was arduously developing - and over the years, Solid still comes in handy. This is one of the most convenient, powerful file managers on Android.

The app looks cool, and thanks to the many personalization options, you can change not only the themes and icons, but also how many functions work. A clever solution is to place two windows with the view of files one behind the other - you switch between them with a gesture to the right or left. It allows you to instantly browse and flip files from one place to another.

A strong advantage of Solid Explorer is the ability to manage not only local files on a smartphone, but also remote files in the cloud or in the local network. So you can link the application with Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, FTP servers (you can also create your own in the application), LAN / SMB computers and many others. The locations added in this way are just as easy to reach as the catalogs on your smartphone - all you need to do is swipe your finger one way or the other.

Solid Explorer not only allows you to arrange files, but also makes it easier to manage ZIP, RAR or 7ZIP archives, it also allows you to encrypt files in a secret folder (they will be inaccessible to other applications). In rooted smartphones, you can also explore the deepest recesses of the system, inaccessible in basic applications.

Solid Explorer is a paid application - after installation you have 14 days to use the full version. Unlocking it costs less than PLN 6, so there is nothing to talk about - it's worth it.

The Solid Explorer application is available on the Play Store.

MEGA - handy cloud with encryption

I use or used several clouds, including Google Drive and at work - OneDrive. Since I do not use Windows on my computer, but Ubuntu, I was looking for a cloud that would provide me with the best integration with the GNOME desktop environment, the default in Ubuntu. Such a cloud turned out to be MEGA, which allows for easy and quick synchronization between two Ubuntu computers (of course there is also a version for Windows and browsers) and the growing number of Android smartphones. It also has several other advantages, although it does not lack some shortcomings.

By creating an account in MEGA, in the free version you get 50 GB of space for files, which, however, after a month is reduced to 15 GB. This amount can be increased thanks to additional achievements - for example after installing a mobile application or by verifying an SMS. I got even 70 GB to the maximum, but these additional gigabytes are also for some time (e.g. three months). Well, 15 GB is also good compared to other clouds. It is similar with the transfer, which is subject to limitation - it depends on various factors, but on average it is about 5 GB per day. It is worth knowing about these limitations, because as I can see from the comments on Google Play, many users do not know about it and give the lowest rating.

Due to these limitations, the free MEGA version is not suitable for storing movies or large files shared with friends, but for me it is primarily a cloud for synchronizing the documents, scans and photos I need on a regular basis between PC and Android. An additional advantage is end-to-end encryption. The MEGA application on your smartphone can also be used to automatically upload photos taken with the camera, there is also a chat with other users for those willing.

The MEGA app is available for Android and iOS.

Reddit - a social site that I did not appreciate

I have looked at Reddit on my computer more than once and this website has always rejected me as an excavation-like garbage dump with an archaic interface. This only changed when, thanks to one of the mobile games, I registered on Reddit and installed the application on my smartphone. This turned out to be a good idea, especially after turning on the dark theme.

From this perspective, I discovered a different face of Reddit. Subreddits, i.e. thematically separated threads of the main website, are in fact separate mini communities that largely function as discussion forums. Their subscribers exchange knowledge and experiences on various topics. So it is a good place for not necessarily hardcore players - mobile or console - for users of equipment of various brands, but also for meme seekers and "the end of the internet". Sam subscribes to subreddits for Amazfit and Wear OS smartwatches, related to the games I play, to the political one, to Internet rubbish, and also ... wallpapers. In addition to your own subreddits, you can also view the most popular or top rated posts from general categories. I also often come across Reddit looking for some information and news related to working at Telepolis. On this occasion, he is repeatedly convinced that Reddit is a place that brings together many people with great knowledge and willingness to help other users. I also often use this information. I wouldn't have gotten to that if it wasn't for the mobile app - and I also view 98 percent of Reddit on it. The Reddit app is available for Android and iOS.

Moon + Reader Pro - There is no better e-book reader

I use the Amazon Kindle reader to read e-books, which works brilliantly when I have it at hand. When I don't have it, I sometimes read books in the Kindle app, which has the advantage of syncing what I'm reading across devices. However, I do not like this application, and I do not like the limitations of Kindla, so I also install or just another reader on my smartphone - Moon + Reader Pro.

It is probably the best application of its kind. Moon + Reader reads all popular book and document formats from EBUP, AZW3 and MOBI, to PDFs, text files and DOCX. The reader is great at formatting text regardless of the source, and its strong advantage is the enormous personalization options. You can almost freely change the background and text colors of the books you read, you can quickly switch between different themes depending on the time of day and mood, you can also modify the typefaces used, their size, spacing, etc., etc. All this is useful when the original file with an e-book or document was sloppyly prepared by its creator.

I also like this application for its convenient control and access to the most important functions while reading, which can also be meticulously configured. Another advantage is the ability to import books directly from the cloud, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, as well as easy access to free e-book archives, such as Project Gutenberg.

Moon + Reader Pro is a paid application - it currently costs about PLN 30, but a promotion with a discount of 50% is often announced. I bought this reader myself, taking advantage of this opportunity. There is also a basic version of Moon + Reader with ads. Here I can be downloaded for Android.

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