Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today I have the arrival of the Apple TV streaming app, but only for Sony TVs. I also have a new device locking app from Google to help carriers lock out their insolvent customers, as well as a new TV streaming app from Verizon. So without further ado, here are all of the new and notable Android apps and live wallpapers released on the Play Store in the last two weeks.
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Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Apps
Apple TV
Android Police coverage: Apple TV app for Sony Android TVs arrives in the Play Store
Apple TV is the official Apple streaming app for Sony-branded Android TV devices, which isn’t confusing whatsoever. Basically, this is Apple’s video streaming app for Sony’s Android TVs, so if you’ve invested in the service and also own a supported Sony TV, you can finally watch all of your Apple TV content with ease. Here’s hoping the app will support a wider range of devices shortly.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Device Lock Controller
Android Police coverage: Google has an app to lock you out of your financed phone if you stop paying for it
Device Lock Controller is a new release from Google designed to lock people out of their carrier-purchased phones if they are late on their payments. Basically, this is a tool for credit providers to restrict access to devices, and as you can guess, the app’s reviews reflect this with a bunch of negative reviews. As expected, people don’t want google to help creditors lock them out of their devices, though it could easily be argued that these are actually the creditor’s devices until they are paid off in full. Still, this app isn’t a good look for Google, as seen by all of the one-star reviews.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Stream TV Mobile
Android Police coverage: Verizon releases new Stream TV app and Android TV box with upgraded content-discovery UI
It would seem all of the carriers are in a mad dash to spin up their own cable TV replacement services, especially now that COVID ensures a captive audience. So Stream TV Mobile is the latest release from Verizon, a video streaming app that coincides with the release of a Verizon-branded streaming box.
Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs
Poweramp Equalizer
Poweramp Equalizer is an early access release that’s based on the popular music player’s equalizer, and so it would appear the developer has copied this EQ from the primary app to create a stand-alone release that also offers a few improvements. So if you’ve enjoyed Poweramp’s EQ in the past but would like to use it on its own, as of this week, you can.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Zenchat
Zenchat combines a chat application with a task app to create a tool where you can coordinate with friends, family, and coworkers with ease. So instead of keeping two apps open while switching back and forth, you can simply chat while creating task lists that can be seen by all parties involved. You can even assign tasks to specific participants, all while grouping these tasks together for easy readability.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
GameOn is a new release from Amazon, and if you couldn’t tell by the name, this is an app designed for sharing gaming-related content, such as gameplay videos. You see, this release ties into many mobile games, so if you’d like to share your PUBG Mobile clips by recording them through this app to then share them with a like-minded community, Amazon has you covered.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Cooper – Professional network
Cooper – Professional network is billed as a private network for professionals. Users can connect privately with their mentors, peers, and employers, so say you’re having trouble with a specific task at your work, simply fire up this business-oriented social media app to ask similar professionals for help. Of course, this all hinges on people actually using this app, and since it’s a new release, the userbase is still tiny, which kind of defeats the purpose of such an app. Like many mobile apps, this chicken and egg scenario is tough to tackle.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Mastercard Donate
Mastercard Donate is a donation app from Mastercard for all of you who would like to donate to charities but don’t know where to start. While you’d think Mastercard would be better positioned to donate money to those in need, it always seems that corporations are more interested in looking like they are helping while regular people foot the bill. So the app works as promised if you’d like to give your money away, though I’d honestly love to see Mastercard at least match everyone’s donations while also providing a way to trace where the funds are actually going and how they will be used.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
GnssLogger App
GnssLogger App is a new release from Developed with Google, and it allows users to log all sorts of location and sensor data for in-depth analysis. Of course, it’s not like everyone is going to need to analyze their location and sensor data, so this is a niche release for all of you techies out there.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Brightness Control Free – Brightness per app
Brightness Control Free is the new free version of the Brightness Manager from Yogesh Dama. While the premium version was released back in April (2020), now that a free version is available, people can finally take this app for a spin to see if it’s to their liking without spending a dime. As you would expect, you can change your brightness levels while also creating schedules, and you can even set up custom auto-settings for specific apps, such as eBook readers.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $1.49
Yubo – Join, play, Make new friends online
Yubo is another fledgling social media app to land this week, though this one is centered around making friends instead of making business contacts like the Cooper app above. Still, social media apps are a flooded market, which makes it tough to recommend this release since there aren’t that many users, and really, the whole thing could go belly up at any time. It also doesn’t help that this release is really buggy, often crashing because of features that don’t work correctly. Of course, once you see the app’s in-app purchases, you’ll understand why performance wasn’t a priority for the devs.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $1.99 – $94.99
Google Pay: A safe & helpful way to manage money
This particular version of Google Pay is a new release for the Indian market, but it’s not actually a new release since it’s a rebrand of the payment app Tez. As expected, users aren’t happy with the new changes in this rebranded release, which is exacerbated by the app’s new buggy behavior. It would seem Google didn’t properly test this update before pushing it out, and so simple things like payment pages load endlessly. So I suppose users in India can thank Google for such a successful update. While Google’s ineptitude isn’t surprising, it sure would be nice if the company actually bothered to test its updates before pushing them out.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Manufacturer And Tie-In Apps
T-MOJIS
T-MOJIS offers precisely what you would expect. This is an emoji app that contains T-Mobile-branded emojis for all of your messaging needs. While I can’t say this bland emoji pack interests me, I suppose die-hard T-Mobile users may get a kick out of this release. So if you’ve been dying to get your hands on a bunch of magenta emojis, T-mobile has for some reason created exactly that.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
COVID Apps
Oregon Exposure Notifications
Each week a few more COVID tracing apps are released, and this week Oregon’s official ENS app has arrived on the Play Store. The app is still in early access, though it has already earned its ENS badge on the Play Store, so if you live in Oregon, this is indeed the tracing app you’re looking for. Just like the rest, all you have to do is turn on your bluetooth, open this app, and then it’s off to the races. Should you come in contact with a traced individual that’s infected, you’ll receive a notification.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
MD COVID Alert
You guessed it, MD COVID Alert is the tracing app for Maryland residents, and since it’s already earned its ENS badge on the Play Store, we know it uses Google’s API. This means this is the official notification app for the state of Maryland, so if you live in the state and you’d like to be alerted of potential contact with infected individuals, you’ll want to install and run this release.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
South Carolina Safer Together
South Carolina Safer Together is the early access release for the state’s COVID tracing app. This release has yet to earn its ENS badge on the Play Store, and since the description is sparse, it’s difficult to know for sure if this app uses Google’s API. While it would be nice to see consistency between the states, it would appear some states simply don’t care about revealing the details of their app or how it works.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
AlohaSafe Alert
AlohaSafe Alert is the COVID tracing app for Hawaii, and while it has yet to earn its ENS badge on the Play Store, the Play Store description states it was built using the open-source project developed by PathCheck Foundation, which indeed uses Google’s API. So it’s only a matter of time before this release earns the ENS badge, joining all of the other official apps on the Play store COVID page.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Live Wallpapers
ASTEROID App
ASTEROID App is a new live wallpaper that landed this week, and it absolutely looks great in action. As you can see, an asteroid will be displayed on the center of your screen, and you can, of course, alter the background colors as well as the colored vein that runs down the center of the space rock. Since this is a free-to-play release, you can take it for a spin for free, but if you’d like to unlock the color options, you’ll have to plunk down a buck.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $0.99 apiece
Orb – 3D Live Wallpaper
Orb is another live wallpaper to land this week, and it offers a customizable orb in the center of your screen, with a black border that suits OLED devices well. This is a premium release, so there’s no way to try before you buy, but for $2, I can confidently say this is a quality live wallpaper that offers tons of customization and themes.
Monetization: $1.99 / no ads / no IAPs
Know A Worthy New App? Let Us Know!
If you have an application in mind for the next issue of the roundup, feel free to send us an email and let us know.
Important: there are 2 requirements in order for the app to be considered, listed below.
- the app’s launch date has to be no longer than 2 weeks ago
- it has to be original, ground-breaking, well-reviewed, interesting, fun, etc – the cream of the crop
Now, if and only if the above requirements have been satisfied, fire up an email to this address: [email protected].
1 sponsored placement per week is available (your app would be featured at the top and marked as sponsored) – please contact us for details.
