Quick Links
After finishing the initial setup, most of us set out to install our favorite essential apps. I do the same, too. However, there are a few optional apps I always install on my Android phone before I ever start using it.
1Tasker and MacroDroid
I like automating trivial actions, device interactions, and app behaviors on my Android phone. While I use the Routines feature on my Galaxy phone to automate certain tasks, it lacks advanced automation capabilities. Additionally, I don’t always use a Galaxy phone. This necessitates the need for a better solution.
Enterone of the best Android automation apps available, Tasker, and MacroDroid. Why two apps, you ask? Because automating certain things is easier in one than the other. Of the two, MacroDroid is more intuitive and beginner-friendly, and you can use it for various automations, likeauto-rotating the phone’s screen on certain apps. However, for advanced system-level control or complex logic, Tasker outshines MacroDroid.
As such, it’s crucial to pick an app based on your requirements. I do this by first trying to create an automation with MacroDroid. If it doesn’t work (perhaps because it doesn’t have enough actions) or the process seems too complicated, I switch to Tasker.
That said, MacroDroid and Tasker are extremely powerfulautomation appsand support a wide range of triggers and hundreds of actions across different apps, device elements, and operating system components. Both have active communities, and you can find several automations for them online. You may need to purchase their premium versions to unlock full capabilities.
Download:Tasker(Free, in-app purchases available) |MacroDroid(Free, in-app purchases available)
2Solid Explorer
Solid Explorer is my preferred file manager on Android phones. The app has a material design that I quite like, and it uses snappy animations to offer a smooth navigation experience. What’s also nice is that you get plenty of customization options, so you can personalize the interface exactly how you like.
Moving to functionality, Solid Explorer has a range of tools and features to offer. Besides support for all essential file operations, this includes an indexed search that facilitates quick searching, file compression capabilities to create and extract archives (including password-protected ZIP archives), and the ability to batch rename files (though I prefer using a dedicated tool for flexibility).
Similarly, Solid Explorer offers anFTP Serverthat allows you to easily share files with other devices on the network and cloud storage support to conveniently connect and manage files on services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, and more. Besides, it also hasOTG support, so you may easily manage files from external devices.
Solid Explorer also lets you browse system files if you’re using a rooted phone.
Download:Solid Explorer(Free, in-app purchases available)
There’s no dearth ofequalizer apps on Android. However, my favorite for the last few years has been Wavelet, a rootless—yet powerful—EQ app with an extensive database of headphone profiles to help you extract better audio from your hardware.
Using Wavelet is simple. You simply need to enable the AutoEQ option and choose your audio device. Wavelet will then automatically tune different frequencies accordingly. If a profile for your device doesn’t exist, you canuse the graphical equalizer to fine-tune the audioper your preference.
Besides equalization, Wavelet also packs a few additional options, like effects and gain controls. For the former, you have Bass Tuner, which lets you fine-tune low frequencies by allowing you to adjust various aspects like bass type, cutoff frequency, and post gain. On the other hand, gain control options include Channel Balance for adjusting audio imbalances and Limiter to eliminate unwanted volume fluctuations for a comfortable listening experience.
Download:Wavelet(Free, in-app purchases available)
4LocalSend
I use an iPhone alongside my Android phone. Similarly, while my primary workhorse is a Mac, I also use Windows and Linux (occasionally). As such, I need a quick and reliable solution toeffortlessly move files between all my devices.
This is where LocalSend comes in. It’s a free cross-platform file-sharing app available on Android, iOS, macOS, Linux, and Windows, among other platforms. The app is designed to work over a local network, so you simply need your devices connected to the same network to transfer files between them.
Besides files, you can also move text snippets between devices with LocalSend, and all transfers with LocalSend are end-to-end encrypted.
Download:LocalSend(Free, in-app purchases available)
Raindrop is an all-in-one bookmark manager. I use it on all my devices, including my Android phone, to save things from the internet and other apps so I can access them on any device whenever I want.
This includes links to useful websites I stumble upon now and then, documents, and images I often access or share. I also use Raindrop to save articles I want to read later. What’s also nice is that I can store webpage highlights, so I don’t have to go through the entire article when I revisit it later.
When it comes to keeping things organized, Raindrop does it quite elegantly with collections—folders you can use to group similar items. I also like that it supports tags, which is great for supplementary classification and lets you find items faster.
Additionally, Raindrop packs robust filtering capabilities, which intelligently classify your saved items by various filters, like notes, articles, links, documents, and more, to make it easier to find them.
Download:Raindrop(Free, in-app purchases available)
6Flut Renamer
I work with a lot of images, be it screenshots for guides I’m writing or pictures I capture on whatever phone I’m testing. As such, I need to rename images quite regularly.
While I prefer renaming screenshots after moving them to my Mac or Windows PC, I always rename the camera pictures on my phone. This helps reduce the risk of filename conflicts and allows for easier management and identification on the desktop.
I use Flut Renamer to bulk-rename images on my Android phone. It’s a powerful app that’s completely free to use and supports multiple renaming methods, like insert, replace, remove, rearrange, and more, which you can use to set up rules for batch renaming images quickly. The best part is you can set multiple rules to filter and rename files.
Flut Renamer also lets you extract and insert filemetadatainto filenames. I use this to add device names to filenames, as it makes the pictures easier to identify.
Another thing I really like about the app is that it supports regular expressions. This is incredibly useful since it allows advanced pattern matching, allowing you to pinpoint exactly the element in the filename you want to replace.
Download:Flut Renamer(Free)
7Image Toolbox
Besides renaming, I need to perform other operations on images, too, which is when I turn to Image Toolbox. It’s a versatile app that supports plenty of image manipulation options, ranging from simple editing and cropping to resizing, conversion, and archiving, among several others.
My most used Image Toolbox operations include batch-converting images to different formats, stitching images, deleting EXIF data, watermarking images, and cropping them to different aspect ratios. I also sometimes use PDF Tools to turn images into PDFs and the QR Code Generator to generate codes with custom text.
Image Toolbox also has a few other useful tools, like Collage Maker, Image Stacking, and Background Remover. The app is highly customizable, so you’re able to personalize its appearance and the behavior of different tools according to your preference.
Download:Image Toolbox(Free)
F-Droidis another source for finding apps for Android. However, unlike Play Store, it focuses solely on free and open-source apps.
To get started, you just need to download the F-Droid APK from the official website (link below). After this, you can browse the entire library of apps and download the ones you like without registering an account. Some of my favorites includeKey Mapper,URL Check,Obtanium, andFFShare.
Download:F-Droid(Free)
These apps can significantly enhance your Android phone’s capabilities, enabling you to perform operations that are often not possible natively. So, go ahead, give the ones you like a shot, and extract more value from your device.
