49 Best New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (12/2/14- 12/15/14)

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

Featured App

Expense IQ – Expense Manager

This week’s roundup is brought to you by Expense IQ – Expense Manager from Handy Apps. This amazingly complete expense tracking system has a solid and colorful UI, and just about every possible checkbook, alert, and tracking feature you could want. Everything you input can be saved and exported for personal backup and expense reports, and all your data is synced via Dropbox, making Expense IQ a snap to use across multiple phones or tablets. Bill alerts, a PIN lock, and even a homescreen widget are all included in this app’s bag of additional goodies. The basic version is free, but to get access to advanced functions you’ll need to pay for the full $6.99 version via in-app purchase.

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Expense IQ is the long awaited successor to EasyMoney – the number one money manager app that combines an expense manager, a bill reminder, a checkbook register and a budget planner. Expense IQ – Expense Manager provides a rich, detailed window into your personal finances and daily money management needs. Track and manage daily expenses quickly & easily. Business expenses, personal expenses, travel expenses etc can all be managed rapidly using Expense IQ’s simple and intuitive user interface. Interactive reports & graphs let you analyze income, expenses, cash flow and balance over various date ranges and accounts.

Apps

AZ Screen Recorder – No Root

Android Police coverage: AZ Screen Recorder Is A Non-Root Lollipop Screen Capture App With Plenty Of Options

We had a handful of apps in the last roundup that took advantage of Lollipop’s root-free screen recording, but this one is a clear standout. Between simple activation and stopping, a useful floating tool window, and a ton of user-accessible recording options, it’s an easy recommendation for both intermediate and advanced users. Unfortunately those running pre-Lollipop builds need not apply, even if they do have root.

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AZ Screen Recorder – No Root is the best app to record the screen of your Lollipop devices. It’s 100% FREE, no time limit, no watermark, material design and easy to record with one action to start/stop recording. AZ Screen Recorder is the only screen recorder that allow you to pause and resume while recording. AZ Screen Recorder uses the latest API from Android Lollipop so it does NOT require root access, PC connection or any other tools.

HERE Beta: Offline maps & nav

Android Police coverage: Nokia Drives The HERE Navigation App Into The Play Store, Leaves It Parked In Beta

It’s about time. Nokia’s much-loved proprietary mapping program is now available on any Android device, no side-loading necessary. The interface and speed of HERE maps are part of its charm, but the biggest draw for users is downloadable maps. You can save maps for your state or country locally, or even entire continents if you’ve got the space. Unlike previous versions of HERE, this is not a Samsung exclusive.

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Here’s to finding your way no matter where you are. Here’s to embracing the world around you and daring to explore new places without fear of getting lost. Here’s to having the confidence to live your life, because you know exactly where you’re going. HERE allows you to search, navigate or get directions around the world — even without an Internet connection. Simply save our interactive maps to your phone or tablet and they’ll continue to work for you offline, wherever you are.

Action Launcher 3

Android Police coverage: [Hands-On] The Completely Redesigned Action Launcher 3 From Chris Lacy Makes Your Home Screen Material

The popular Action Launcher has a new edition for Material Design. The new theme engine allows for some amazing control of the various elements, and all the old familiar slide and gesture tools are still present. The updated edition requires a paid upgrade to the full version, even for owners of the previous app, which has proven a controversial topic among the Android community. Personally, look at it like a paid OS upgrade.

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Action Launcher 3 is both a complete re-write and and a complete re-design. It takes everything you love about Action Launcher 2 and Google Now Launcher, and infuses it with Material Design. Standout features include:

• The Quickdrawer, for instant access to all your apps and widgets.
• Quicktheme. In true Material Design fashion, the colors from your wallpapers are extracted, and used to customize the look of your layout. The Quickdrawer, folder background, Google Search box and more can all be themed with your wallpaper.
• Covers, an innovative take on folders that lets you launch apps and shortcuts without compromising the look of your carefully crafted home screen.
• Shutters, a unique feature that unlocks the power and potential of Android widgets. Swipe an app icon, and that app’s widget is automatically created and displayed.
• Full tablet support.

Amazon Shopping

Android Police coverage: [Update: Confirmed] Google Forced Amazon To Remove Its Main Shopping App From The Play Store Because Of Its Appstore Integration

Farewell, integrated Amazon shopping and Appstore app, we hardly knew you. After allowing Amazon to slyly slip its entire digital catalog through the Play Store shopping app, Google has finally put its foot down and insisted that Amazon cut it out. This new app includes all of the old shopping features, but if you want to download Amazon apps for Android, you’ll have to get the old-fashioned sideload store directly from the web.

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The Amazon Shopping app lets you shop millions of products and manage your Amazon orders from anywhere. Browse and shop by department, compare prices, read reviews, share products with friends, check out Gold Box Deals, make purchases, and check the status of your orders. Comparing prices and product availability is now even easier by searching with your voice, scanning a barcode or an image with your camera, or simply typing in your search.

Indiegogo

Android Police coverage: Perk Up! Indiegogo Launches Its Official Android App

IndieGoGo is the famous and infamous alternative to Kickstarter. This official app lets you browse projects and back them if you wish, then keep up on the projects you’ve supported and their progress (or lack thereof). It’s not all that different from the mobile website in actual function, but the layout and coding should make it considerably faster and easier to navigate on Android.

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Discover new campaigns or keep track of your favorites—anytime, anywhere. Whether you’re interested in the latest wearable devices, new up-and-coming gadgets, or independent films, it’s easier than ever to explore and support your favorite Indiegogo campaigns.

• Discover new campaigns through personalized recommendations
• Follow your favorite campaigns
• Explore campaign perks
• Share specific campaigns with friends

 

7 Minute Superhero Workout

Android Police coverage: Zombies, Run! Developer Releases 7-Minute Superhero Workout App Offering Similar Over-The-Top Motivation To Get In Shape

Need a little fantasy motivation for your workout? If picturing your ideal sexual partner doesn’t do it for you, maybe a little escapism will. Unlike Zombies Run (this developer’s earlier workout game), Superhero Workout uses your phone’s front-facing camera to track your movements and correct your body-weight exercises. The $3 app includes 20 missions and over 40 separate exercises.

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Count every rep and every calorie of every exercise with 7 Minute Superhero Workout. Heroes aren’t born – they’re trained. You’re pilot of the prototype AEGIS One battlesuit, tasked with defending Earth against alien invaders. Your punches become plasma blasts and your abdominal crunches power your suit’s reactor. Made by Six to Start, co-creators of the world’s bestselling smartphone fitness game with over a million players, Zombies, Run.

Ghostery Privacy Browser

Android Police coverage: Ghostery Is A Privacy-Oriented Browser That Blocks Advertising Trackers And Has An Adorable Ghost Mascot

Ghostery is a privacy browser. But it’s not one of those tin-foil hat sort of apps with a serious persecution complex. Nope, this browser is specifically meant to prevent tracking from ad networks, social sites, and other slightly sneaky behavioral trackers. Also, it appears to use a Pac-Man ghost as a mascot. Aside from blocking those tracking elements, Ghostery works just like other mobile browsers.

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While you browse, companies are tracking what you read, what you buy, what you click, and what you share. Ghostery detects scripts from Facebook, Google, and hundreds of other ad networks, behavioral data providers, web publishers – all companies interested in your activity. You can learn more about these data collection companies and block them from tracking your activity as you browse.

Surprise! by Amazon

Android Police coverage: Surprise! Amazon Just Launched An App Called ‘Surprise!’ To Make Sending Gift Cards Easier

Facebook’s birthday reminders are the only reason that I keep the app installed. With Amazon’s new app, I can finally get rid of it. Surprise imports your contacts from your phone or Facebook, reminds you of their birthdays and major events, and allows you to send an electronic card for free. If you want something a little more real, you can also buy and send physical cards right from the app.

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Surprise. by Amazon makes it easy to remember the important occasions of people you care about and send them an e-card. With Surprise. by Amazon, you can:

• Send a quick e-card or personalize it with just the right sentiment and customize it with a photo, video, audio greeting, personal message, or handwritten signature
• Add an Amazon.com Gift Card
• Select an animated “reveal” to wrap your Surprise
• Build an Occasion Timeline by adding Friends & Family from Facebook, your device’s calendar and contacts
• Automatically sync occasions with Amazon’s Friends & Family Gifting program

StreamNation

Android Police coverage: StreamNation App Offers 20GB Of Space For Streaming Audio And Video With Chromecast Support

StreamNation is the cloud storage service for media addicts. It’s specifically designed to both store and remotely stream all kinds of video, audio, and photos… and I do mean all kinds. The Android app doubles as a standard cloud storage client and a media player, complete with Chromecast support. The free tier offers 20GB of storage, which is pretty great, with different tiers all the way up to unlimited storage for $20 a month.

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StreamNation turns your device into a media center that lets you access your photos, videos, movies, TV shows and music everywhere and share them easily. Upload all your media on your Desktop and StreamNation will convert them for a perfect experience on your smartphone, tablet or any browser.

• Access and stream all your photos, videos, movies, TV shows and music albums, artists and playlists from any devices, whatever their original format
• Borrow movies, TV shows and music from your friends
• Download any media for offline viewing or listening
• Stream your videos and music with Chromecast even when the app is in background
• Image format supported: arw, .cr2, .dcr, .dng, .eps, .erf, .kdc, .nef, .orf, .pef, .raf, .rw2, .sr2, .x3f, .bmp, .dpx, .gif, .jpg, .pdf, .png, .ps, .svg, .tif
• Video format supported: .asf, .avd, .avi, .cdg, .divx, .dv, .evo, .flc, .flv, .lvf, MPEG, .m2ts, .mts, .mkv, .mov, .mp4, .mxf, .nsv| .nut, .ogv, .pss, .rm, .streamdump, .tp, .ts, .VOB, .wmv, 3GPP
• Music format supported: mp3, ogg, m4a, wav, flac, aiff, aif, aac, wma
• Support for .srt subtitles

KinoConsole – Stream PC games

Android Police coverage: KinoConsole Beta Is A SHIELD-Style PC Game Streaming App, But It Still Needs Some Work

NVIDIA’s GameStream service is undeniably cool, but the drawback of requiring SHIELD hardware and an NVIDIA graphics card is hard to get over. KinoConsole is a more universal alternative, which works with any combination of Windows and Android. It’s essentially a remote desktop connection tuned for speed and with a virtual control pad included, plus support for external gamepads. The beta version is a little flaky, but well worth a try for PC gaming fans on the go.

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Play PC games on your Android device. KinoConsole is remote desktop application optimised for streaming games to your smartphone or tablet device. Play games like Hearthstone, Diablo III, Skyrim, X-COM and Civilization just like sitting in front of computer. Control games with touchscreen gestures, virtual on-screen joystick or external gamepad. Built-in control layouts for most popular games, you can also customise controls to your preference.

DropTask – Visual To Do List

Android Police coverage: DropTask Is A Visual To-Do Management App With Real-Time Collaboration

DropTask is a new take on the to-do list with a collaborative sharing feature included for good measure. The design of the app incorporates tasks and projects into visual “clouds,” almost like a tiny handheld whiteboard. The app includes offline access and syncing with connected users for group projects, with a summary email that lets you know what’s on deck for the day. The premium version offers unlimited tasks and permission management, among other things.

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DropTask is a powerful productivity tool enabling you to visualize your workload in a unique and engaging way. Simply drag and drop tasks for all your essential to-dos, and organize them within larger colorful circles to truly see the bigger picture. With powerful functionality delivered intuitively to the user, DropTask adds simplicity to even the most complex projects and provides effortless task management for teams and individuals alike.

Shou.TV (Screen Recorder Pro)

Android Police coverage: Shou.TV Is Like Twitch For Your Phone: Stream A Live Video Feed Of Your Android Device To Others, Or Snoop On Theirs Instead

Do you like Twitch? Do you wish Twitch were available for your phone? Well here it is, with a slightly different name but the same basic concept. Shou.TV records your screen (preferably while you’re playing a game) and broadcasts it for strangers to watch on the Internet. When you’re tired of that, you can watch strangers’ streams instead. Like most screen recording apps, it works on Android 5.0 without root, but you’ll need root permissions on older devices.

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Shou.TV is an amazing community for Android and iOS gamers to broadcast, watch, chat and discover new friends and awesome games anytime, anywhere. Shou.TV lets no root Android 5.0 Lollipop and ROOT 4.x Jelly Bean users to broadcast their gaming experience directly from the Android phones or tablets. And it’s absolutely FREE. Shou.TV is also the best ever free screen recorder for Android devices, without ads.

Runtastic Butt Trainer

Android Police coverage: Runtastic Wants To Whip That Ass Into Shape With Its Newest App, Butt Trainer

This is a Runtastic app that trains your butt. It is designed to enhance the muscles in your ass. It includes videos and guided tutorials for your behind in a variety of languages. Sir Mix-A-Lot approves.

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Download the Runtastic Butt Trainer, Exercises & Quick Workouts app and define your backside with Runtastic. Follow the lead of the Runtastic avatar in high-quality, HD videos to complete intense butt and legs workouts. Tell your excuses to hit the road and get the body you’ve always dreamed of… Fitness is not one size fits all & your fat burning workouts shouldn’t be either.

DeviantArt

Android Police coverage: DeviantArt Gets An Official Android App, Awesome Digital Resources And Terrible Sonic Fanart Are Now On Your Phone

DeviantArt was one of the Internet’s most popular art galleries long before Android came on the scene, so it’s a little surprising that it took them this long to release an official app. The app lets you do pretty much anything you can on the full site, including uploads – it’s presumably aimed at mobile photos, but it will take anything, including text. The social and browsing functions are intact.

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Simply put: The World’s Largest Art Gallery In Your Hand. DeviantArt is the largest online social community for artists and art enthusiasts, allowing people to connect through the creation and sharing of art. We entertain, inspire, and empower the artist in all of us. The DeviantArt mobile app moves the experience to hand-held devices exposing a full range of exciting, fresh, culturally relevant content from traditional media of painting, drawing, photography and sculpture to digital art, pixel art, anime and fan art.

Strafe

Android Police coverage: Strafe Keeps A Vigilant Eye On The Competitive World Of eSports

If you’re a fan of the oxymoronically-named “eSports,” then Strafe wants to be your eESPN. The news service covers the big tournaments and events in competitive video games, and the “spoiler-free mode” that blocks scores and results is especially innovative. Streaming and video-on-demand links are provided when available.

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Finally there’s a an app that makes it easy to follow esports. Strafe makes it convenient for fans to keep track of what’s going on in the world of esports right now. Providing results, schedules, tournament information & more for the five biggest esport titles, at any time and place.

• Notifications for upcoming matches
• Spoiler free mode
• Customisable sorting by game, tournament or time
• Vote for MVP
• Stream and/or VOD links

 

Getaround

Android Police coverage: Getaround Car Sharing Service Releases Android App For Use In Austin, Chicago, Portland, San Diego, And San Francisco

Taxi alternatives like Uber and Lyft have proven controversial, at least for the people collecting taxes. Surely they can’t object to good old-fashioned car rental? I’m sure they’ll find a way, but for the time being, Getaround is a great way to find people in your area with little-used cars for a cheap rental or make some extra cash by renting out your own ride. Too bad it’s only available in a few cities so far.

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Share your car and earn thousands a year. Rent anything from a Tesla to a Prius. Insurance included. FREE to join & no annual fees. Login with Facebook.

• Astonishingly LOW PRICES on a great variety of cars in your neighborhood.
• FREE SIGNUP and no annual fees. INSURANCE INCLUDED.
• FAST AND EASY. No paperwork, lines, hidden fees or membership card.
• SAFE and TRUSTED community with driver screening and rating system.
• 24/7 customer happiness line and roadside assistance.
• Good for the ENVIRONMENT and your COMMUNITY.

MSN Money- Stock Quotes & News

Android Police coverage: Microsoft Releases 6 New Android Apps For MSN: Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, Money, News, Sports, And Weather

This app and the five that follow were all published by Microsoft at the same time. Redmond seems to be sticking to its multi-platform approach, and now MSN’s Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, Money, News, and Weather portals are seeing the benefit. You can use all of these services without logging in, much like their web counterparts, but creating an account will allow you to save information and tailor your results.

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Know more about your money with financial data and news from the world’s top sources. Grow your finances with handy tools and calculators, anytime and anywhere. Track major indexes from around the world, including NASDAQ, NYSE, Dow Jones, S&P 500, DAX, FTSE 100, NIKKEI 225 and more. Also track currency exchange rates and commodity prices. Add your favorite stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs to your personal watchlist. Get stock quotes, charts, trends, recommendations and detailed company profiles. Sign in to save your preferences.

MSN Health & Fitness

Access a rich set of tools and content for all your health needs. Find 1000+ exercise and workout videos, nutritional and medical references, and a symptom checker to look up conditions and diets to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

DETAILED TRACKERS

• Run Tracker: Record your time, distance, pace and calories burned while you run, bike and do other outdoor activities. Turn on GPS to map your route.
• Diet Tracker: Add foods from a database of over 300 thousand to log your daily calorie intake. Calculate your calorie target and use it to set your calorie goal. Count calories and lose weight.
• Cardio Tracker: Track your cardio training and analyze progress over time

MSN News – Breaking Headlines

Read the day’s top stories and breaking news from the industry’s best sources, hand-picked by our editors. Plus, easily stay updated on any topic you care about, from global events to your local news. Read articles aggregated from the industry’s best sources and from your local news, curated by our editors. Explore World, Technology, Politics, Money, Entertainment, Sports, Crime, and Offbeat categories from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, the Washington Post, BBC, CNN, and more.

MSN Sports – Scores & Schedule

Get real-time game updates, easy to follow schedules and standings, and the latest news across your favorite leagues and teams. Access over 150+ leagues and thousands of teams, including NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, MLS, PGA, NASCAR, Formula 1, Cricket, Tennis, International Soccer and more. Get the most recent scores, schedules, standings and more.

MSN Weather – Forecast & Maps

Get the latest weather conditions, whether you’re hitting the slopes, the beach or simply checking the forecast for your commute. See accurate hourly, 5-day, and 10-day forecasts for wherever you’re going or whatever you’re doing. Quickly access the day drill down, hourly, daily, and 10-day forecasts, and historical weather averages. Check wind, visibility, humidity, barometer, dew point, and chance of precipitation. See sunrise, sunset, moon phase, and UV index.

MSN Food & Drink – Recipes

Browse hundreds of thousands of recipes from your favorite magazines, world-famous chefs, bloggers and fellow home cooks. Enjoy easy-to-follow instructions and beautiful photos. Explore the extensive wine and cocktails guides and stay in the know on the latest food and drink trends. Find recipes for cuisines around the world, from Allrecipes.com, The Food Network, BigOven, Conde Nast, Epicurious, Bon Appetit, and more. Read tasting notes and reviews on more than 1.5 million wines. Browse hundreds of cocktails.

TVHZ

Chainfire’s latest tool is designed to allow Android devices to output video at specific refresh frequencies. This might not seem all that useful, but if you’ve tried to use Android TV or an HDMI-out port with a monitor that defaults to 59 hertz, you’ll know what a headache this can be. This isn’t exactly a completed tool: Chainfire warns that audio errors and reboots are highly probable, even though it’s a root-only app.

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This app allows you to switch the hertz of your display. This is a tool for advanced users, please read this entire description. Hopefully this app will be obsolete sooner rather than later. If you have a compatible TV or monitor, you may want to view specific content on a different hz. Apps can actually switch the hz used by your device. This feature is new to Android, and thus very few apps support it yet, which is the main reason an app like this one can come in handy.

AutoMath Photo Calculator

Good Lord, I would have killed to have this app in third grade. Take a photo of a math problem and AutoMath will solve it for you. Not just the usual arithmetic, either: it can handle fractions, powers, trigonometry, and algebra. You’ll need a steady hand (or a printed homework paper) for the best results, but when it works, it’s fantastically impressive. At the moment the app is free with no in-app purchases.

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AutoMath allows you to solve math questions simply by taking a photo of your math equations. AutoMath is a great way to check your work, study or even to teach yourself math. Here are some of AutoMath’s Photo Calculator Features:

• Quick and Accurate Results
• Step by step tutorials
• No internet required
• Can solve simple to advanced math questions
• 250+ Mathematical Functions

BagIQ

OK, this is a really cool idea. The problem with most food trackers is that they require you to manually input the food you eat. Not so with BagIQ: just connect it to any supported loyalty card and it will track food as you buy it, automatically inputting nutritional information to your online account. (Barcodes can be used for merchants that aren’t supported.) It even scores your purchases based on health and thriftiness, if you’re inclined to track either.

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BagIQ makes it simple to track & analyze the quality & nutrition of the food products you buy. Simply connect BagIQ to the places you shop online or with loyalty cards and BagIQ automatically streams every item your purchase instantly to your personal food diary. Adding a paper receipt is as simple as snapping a photo within the app or scanning a bar code.

Runbit – Free

For the right kind of person, “gamifying” a helpful activity is a great way to actually get it done. If that describes you (and you’ve memorized all the audio from Zombies Run), Runbit is right up your alley. The idea is that it adds semi-random stars to a virtual map, which you then run to collect in the real world. It’s an interesting approach, and the built-in Android Wear app is extremely handy. The demo is free, and the full version is a reasonable $1.21.

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Runbit combines training and play into one by taking you on a journey and challenging you to find new ways to explore. The application works by distributing several stars on a map of your surroundings and it is then up to you to find the best ways to reach them. This differs from other running apps since it is not about the time or distance. It is about actually enjoying it. Runbit works for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are a pro athlete, on your very first run or even if you are not able to run at all.