Best free Android apps: 20 essential apps you need on your smartphone

So, you've just cracked open the box and peeled the plastic off your brand spanking new Android smartphone. But there's not much going on in the way of Android apps straight away. Sure, Google has you covered with the essentials, including Gmail, YouTube, Hangouts, Google Maps, the Play Store, Google Translate, Google Photos, Drive and Google Plus, but what else do you need? This is where our list of the best free Android apps comes in. We'll add to this list regularly, until it is your one stop shop for the absolute best-in-class Android apps. And it won't cost you a cent.
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Beyond the obvious Google apps, what other Android apps do you need? © ANDROIDPIT

VLC

VLC is the app for every Android. If you want to play any media file on Android, VLC is the one app that can handle everything. VLC is technically still in beta, but it is already just as awesome as you'd expect it to be when it's finished.
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No matter the media, VLC can handle it. © VLC
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VLC for Android Beta INSTALL

Google Camera

Unless you're lucky enough to have a rock solid camera app on your phone that you actually like, the next best thing is Google's fantastic Google Camera. It's free and it's definitely worth trying out. It even has post-focusing capabilities.
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Google Camera has some great features for a free app. © ANDROIDPIT
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Google Camera INSTALL

SwiftKey

If you haven't heard of SwiftKey then you must have been living under a rock for the last couple of years. Or been using an iPhone. Either way, SwiftKey is the class leader for swipe-typing apps, and it doesn't get any better than this.
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SwiftKey makes typing on Android a swipey typey breeze. © ANDROIDPIT
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SwiftKey Keyboard + Emoji INSTALL

Nova Launcher

Nova Launcher is the king of Android customization and is easily the best known custom launcher. Jam packed with options, Nova lets you rebuild your home screen, app drawer and gesture controls just how you like them.
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Nova Launcher lets you customize, theme, modify and tweak your Android phone endlessly. © ANDROIDPIT
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Nova Launcher INSTALL

Pocket

Pocket is an incredibly useful tool you'll wonder how you ever lived without. Simply save any online content to Pocket and you can read it later, offline and stripped of ads and everything else but what you actually want to read.
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Pocket lets you save online content to read later, offline. © ANDROIDPIT
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Pocket INSTALL

Spotify

Spotify goes up against the likes of Google Play Music, last.fm, Pandora, SoundCloud and even YouTube in the battle to bring music to your ears. An eternal playlist at your fingertips for free? Sounds good to me.
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Spotify is arguably the best streaming music app around. © Spotify
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Spotify Music INSTALL

Facebook

Love it or hate it, Facebook is one of the most installed apps in the world. Resource hungry, slow and buggy, there's still no living without the official Facebook app. As far as features go, none of the third-party options even come close to the official app.
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Say what you will, but Facebook and WhatsApp may as well jsut come pre-loaded. © ANDROIDPIT
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Facebook INSTALL

WhatsApp

Another essential app for every Android phone, if you're not using WhatsApp, then how exactly are you communicating? WhatsApp is ubiquitous, like Facebook, and is easily the msot popular instant messaging app in the world.
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You can even get WhatsApp on Android Wear. © ANDROIDPIT
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WhatsApp Messenger INSTALL

Facebook Messenger

Of course, where Facebook goes, Facebook Messenger is soon to follow. If you want to chat on Facebook, you now have to do it via Facebook's Messenger app, as the chat function no longer exists in the official Facebook app.
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If you want to chat on Facebook, you've got to do it with Facebook Messenger. © ANDROIDPIT
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Facebook Messenger INSTALL

Wikipedia Beta

What's better than Wikipedia? Wikipedia Beta, that's what. Live life on the informational cutting edge with all the latest features the Wikipedia team has to offer. The biggest difference right now is the awesome new native design on Wikipedia Beta.
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Never sound ignorant again with Wikipedia: a world of information at your fingertips. © ANDROIDPIT
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Wikipedia Beta INSTALL

ES FIle Explorer

ES FIle Explorer is the undisputed king of file managers. If you spend any time downloading files, managing music or images, then a good file explorer is an essential Android app, and they don't come any better than ES File Explorer.
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No app manages files on Android better than ES File Explorer.© ANDROIDPIT
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ES File Explorer File Manager INSTALL

Dropbox

Dropbox lets you expand your internal storage into a cloud based backup of everything that's important to you. Music, photos, files and more can be saved, accessed on all your devices and restored if you ever lose your phone.
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It only takes seconds to sign up to Dropbox and protect your precious files. © ANDROIDPIT
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Dropbox INSTALL

Instagram

Speaking of photos, it doesn't get any better than Instagram if you love life through imagery rather than text. Follow your friends and celebrities to see the whole through someone else's eyes. Be warned though, it's addictive.
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Instagram: seeing the world through someone else's eyes. / © Instagram, AndroidPIT
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Instagram INSTALL

Pushbullet

Pushbullet is a fantastic app that means you'll never miss another notifiaction again. Pushbullet can display your notifications direct on your computer screen or share links, photos, files and more between multiple Android devices.
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Pushbullet can even be used to reply to text messages via your computer. © ANDROIDPIT
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Pushbullet INSTALL

QuickPic

Let's face it: most stock Android gallery apps are pretty sucky. That's where QuickPic comes in. QuickPic is a nice clean gallery app that foregrounds your images, has plenty of sorting options and is also connected to the cloud.
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QuickPic is a darn sight better than most Android gallery apps. © ANDROIDPIT
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QuickPic INSTALL

Google Keep

Google Keep is like the Android version of Post-Its on steroids. Any time you have something quick to record  you can note it in Keep and, well, keep it for later. You can set reminders, save images, audio notes and more.
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Google Keep is the best way to keep track of text, images and audio notes. © ANDROIDPIT
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Google Keep - notes and lists INSTALL

Feedly

If you like to keep up to date with the endless stream of news in the world of Android and beyond then you need an RSS reader, and Feedly is the original RSS champ, in case you didn't already know. All your favorite websites in one place.
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All the websites you like in one place. What's better than that? © ANDROIDPIT
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feedly INSTALL

Helium

Helium is a must-have app for anyone that has ever lost data or never done a backup before. It works great with root, but even without, you can simply connect your Android to your computer and use Helium to backup everything. Use it.
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Helium is your one-stop backup solution, whether with root access or without. © AndroidPIT
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Helium - App Sync and Backup INSTALL

Microsoft Office Mobile

Microsoft Office Mobile finally made it Android for free and we couldn't be happier. If you ever use a mobile device for reading or editing Word documents, Excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations, then you know you need this app.
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Microsoft Office looks great, works perfectly and is totally free. © ANDROIDPIT

Falcon Widget (for Twitter)

While there's not really anything wrong with the official Twitter app, I still like Falcon Widget better. But I'm a fan of full-screen widgets, sooo... Still, if you like your Twitter feed front and center you can certainly do worse than Falcon Widget.
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Falcon Widget for Twitter is easily the best looking Twitter widget around. © AndroidPIT/Joaquim Vergès
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Falcon Widget (for Twitter) INSTALL
What did we miss? What Android app can't you live without?

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