13 Must Have Free Android Apps

The mobile technology has unquestionably outgrown by leaps and bounds. The smartphone era that we live in today has connected the farthest corners of the world, bringing them together on these handheld devices, just one click away. The invention that first came as a bulky large device for only the privileged ones is now a luxury that is affordable by even the common man, courtesy, the immense work of engineers, designers and manufacturers, who have gone an extra mile to offer the best to their customers. The escalating market competition and the urge to win the smartphone race has been the driving force behind what our smartphones have for us.

But what makes these phones so smart after all? It is the incredible work of the devoted developers across the globe in form of innumerable applications. While chatting, social networking, music, storing documents, emails and so on have become an integral part of our phones, the applications augment the whole experience to an entirely new level. Keeping track of your health, be your touring guide when you are lost, peep through the far away doors of the galaxy, read out your messages when you are driving, be your flashlight in the dark, list down the best deals in your town, find the best places to hang out and so on, you name it and heave it out from the apps pool right away.

So here we are, offering you a quick dive into the pool of smart apps of the Android marketplace with ten best free apps absolutely worth your smartphone.

Opera Mini

Offering the fastest browsing experience, Opera Mini is a must have browser for the Android phones. An absolute winning code used to design the browser saves all your money on the data charges by using only a tenth of the bandwidth of other browsers, compressing Web pages by up to 90%. Download the browser for free and multitask with the tabs, access your favorite sites instantly with Speed Dial, enjoy the sophisticated URL auto-completion, virtual keyboard, smart bookmark and download management and lots more.

Download Opera mini

Facebook for Android

For the social savvy people, or rather the Facebook addicts that most of us are, Facebook for Android is a perfect and simple app that will take utmost care of your social presence. Offering quite similar experience as that on the actual Facebook site, the app enables the users to stay connected with friends and relatives, accept friend requests, make status updates, watch videos, share links and also provide the inbox support. Chat and push notifications have also been added with the version 1.5.2 offering the ability to upload photos on your friends’ walls. As you swipe through thumbnails of friends’ recently uploaded photos and stroll through the news feeds, you will find this app is very much like the old days when using Facebook was much hassle free and easy.

Download Facebook for Android

Seesmic

Got a big fan following on Twitter? Finding it hard to manage your Twitter feed? Too busy to keep the stream updated? If yes, then Seesmic is the one stop solution for all your microblogging needs. The best Twitter app in the Android marketplace, Sesmic with its simplistic but elegant UI and loads of features has won the hearts of all Twitter users. Manage multiple Twitter accounts with ease, share your photos and videos with your followers, and enjoy customized notification and goetagging and lots more with the free version of the app. Once installed, all the features are easily accessible with the four clear bars at the top of the screen enabling one-touch viewing of your timeline, @ replies, direct messages, and profile. The app makes tweeting fun by facilitating fast picture uploads, URL shortening, and ofcourse the GPS location.

Download Seesmic

Dropbox

One of the much preferred online back up solutions, Dropbox allows the users to sync their files online and across their Macs, Windows or Linux computers automatically by storing them in Dropbox’s secure servers. For free account holders, a total of 2GB of online storage memory is provided while the paid user can take advantage of as much as 100 GB. The shared folder option enables several people to collaborate on the same files plus stay updated with any changes made by others. The users can also control access grants to specific folders and files.

Download Dropbox

Foursquare

Tell your friends what part of the city you are in, catch up with them wherever they are, share pictures, get insider tips ( like the best dish in a particular restaurant) and lots more, right on your Android with Foursquare for Android. The app is light and fast has been seamlessly integrated into the smartphones. Unlock and enjoy discounts and freebies and earn points and badges as you explore your city. The app offers users Desktop shortcuts, integrated maps, great Explore scrolling and innumerable locale strings and is a total fun to use.

Download Foursquare

Swype

Texting and typing could never be so easy and swift without Swype. Swype makes typing on your phone screen fun with its interesting touchscreen keyboard. You no longer have to click onto the letters while typing and run into the risk of making errors all the time. With Swype just swipe your finger in a continuous motion over the letters you want and the patented technology of the app quickly recognizes what you’re trying to write even if it is misspelled. The users are able to type at the rate of 40 words per minute. The feature list reads as fast Finger Tip Operation, Auto Correction, Input Slider, Auto-Spacing, 50+ symbols, 65000+ words English dictionary and lots more.

Download Swype

TripIt

An Android user has very less to worry when out on a trip. Thanks to the number of travel apps that do almost every task from tracking flights to finding lounge and dining, help explore the best places around or translate cool-looking restaurant signs and so on. For a similar hassle free trip, sign up for TripIt and it will be ensured you never miss your flight. The app not only helps you track your itineraries but also offers guiding maps and directions based on that even when your are offline. Along comes the additional information about the hotels, airports and restaurants of the place, helping making your stay much easy and enjoyable.

Download TripIt

Google Voice

No more spending dollars to stay tuned to your loved ones across the world. With Google Voice on our phone, make free calls to any part of the world or send/receive text messages without paying any fee to your carrier using your Google Voice line from your Android phone. Installing the app is brain-dead easy and so is the usage. Free visual voice mail and custom voice mail greetings and the ability to screen your calls makes this app a top pick of Android users.

Download Google Voice

Lookout Mobile Security

As our phones have now become our mini computers, so have they become more prone to malware and virus attacks. Lookout Mobile Security as the name suggests is a free anti-virus/theft and backup application for Android phones that guard users’ information. Whenever a particular app is downloaded to the phone, Lookout self activates and scans that app for any threats and verifies if its safe. The users can also store or back up their information on the Lookout website mylookout.com. Additionally, the website also helps the owner to locate the phone incase of a theft or if misplaced by remotely enabling GPS and also triggering a loud alarm even if the phone is silent.

Download Lookout Mobile Security

WordPress for Android

The complete open source app for bloggers that helps them manage their online content on the go. The application lets users write new posts, edit the existing posts, as well manage the comments from their fellow readers with its built in notifications. This official app from WordPress is perfectly feature-packed, with its latest version promising full integration with other apps. Totally worth a try!

Download WordPress for Android

TuneWiki

A social media player that satisfies your appetite for music anywhere you go. Enhancing the user’s listening or viewing experience, TuneWiki pleases with its intuitive interface for the music library. The app also provides access to Internet radio through SHOUTcast or Last.fm, top 50 charts, playlists, and lots more. For music has no boundaries, the app has been translated into 40+ languages and offers search for lyrics to over 2.5 Million songs.

Download Tune Wiki

Floating Image

For all your valuable pictures stored on your phone or across the web on Flickr, Picassa and Facebook, Floating Image streams them onto your Android seamlessly. Watch your pictures flowing as a continuous stream on your display with additional feature of live wallpapers and multitouch. Swiping the screen smoothly controls the speed of images and to rotate the stream, all you must do is just twist the phone. On tapping an image, it zooms in and fills the screen.

Download Floating Images

OpenHome

If its time to freshen up your home screen, OpenHome is all that you need. The home screen replacement app offers multiple sreens that slide left to right offering ample space to place icons for apps or widgets. The auto-rotate and Skin chooser, allows users to browse skins in the Android Market for additional customization of the phone. The new option of “Live Folders” enables users to view any source of data on the home screen without having to launch the app. Bookmarks, play-lists, contacts, email, RSS feed and so on, Live Folder displays them all. There is a lot more to unfold as you explore!

Download OperaHome