30+ Best Android Apps [October 2016]

Consider this your wake-up call: September has ended. Summer is now just a memory as the leaves slowly begin to change color and football dominates the weekends. One thing that didn’t change is the constant stream of new Android apps. The last month was a little lighter on app releases, but we still had some excellent ones make their debut. Check out the best of the bunch below!

New Android Apps

Allo

Allo is Google’s new (and controversial) messaging app. All you need to use Allo is a phone number and a phone. No login or sign-up required. The special feature of Allo is Google Assistant, which is like talking to someone who has all the information you can find on Google. Allo is free and works on Android and iOS.

CNNgo for Android TV

CNNgo for Android TV allows you to watch CNN on your TV without a cable login. CNNgo gives you instant access to a hand-curated library of hundreds of clips from today’s top news, CNN Original Series, and news by category. Stay informed with the best of CNN on your Android TV set top box.

Circle Sidebar

Circle Sidebar puts your favorite apps in a floating launcher that pops out from the side of the display. It runs in the background and can be easily accessed from any screen with just a swipe. Users can easily customize the way it works and the shortcuts that appear.

Desk Dock

DeskDock allows you to share your computer’s mouse with your Android devices via a USB cable. The app enables you to control your Android device as if it was an additional monitor for your computer. Simply move your computer’s mouse cursor over the screen boundaries to use it with your Android devices.

Digit

Digit is a financing app that makes it easy to save money without thinking about it. Every few days, Digit checks your spending habits and saves a few dollars from your checking account if you can afford it. You likely won’t even notice it’s happening, but at the end of the month you’ll have a nice little stash built up.

Fox Sports VR

Do you ever wish you could watch sporting events in a futuristic living room or your very own suite in a stadium? Fox Sports VR makes that dream a reality. With the app you can watch the games in these cool virtual locations. You can even teleport effortlessly to one of several on-the-field VR camera positions that let you see the action from all angles.

Google Trips

Google Trips aims to make your vacation or travel a pleasant experience. It starts by automatically (and optionally) lifting travel details, like your hotel and flight details, from your email. Once it knows where you’re going, it helps you find the best spots for fun, food, and sight-seeing in whichever city you’re visiting.

Lifetime Movie Club

Need a good cry? Lifetime movies are usually a good way to get down with your sad self. For only $3.99 per month, you get access to a great selection of Lifetime movies on your Android device. There are no commercials, just the movies you love, ready to stream anytime you need a fix.

Nick Jr

The Nick Jr app has all the TV shows and characters your kids love. It’s the home of Shimmer & Shine, PAW Patrol, Blaze and the Monster Machines, and many other Nick Jr. shows. Your kids can watch full episodes, play educational games, discover original videos, and, with a tap, uncover other silly surprises.

Parallel Windows

Parallel Windows is an app for Nougat devices that injects more features into split-screen mode. It provides a handy onscreen shortcut to toggle split screen mode, allows you to launch any app in split-screen mode, and you can even run the same app in both windows. You don’t need root to use this app.

Samsung Focus

Focus is a unified productivity app from Samsung that enables Exchange ActiveSync, IMAP and POP3 users to manage email, calendar, tasks, memos, and contacts in one place. Users can have the same experience on their phone that they would have at the office. The app only works on Samsung phones.

Swipe Widget for Facebook

Swipe Widget for Facebook is a highly-customizable, theme-able, and beautiful widget that lets you view your Facebook Notifications and Messages right on your home screen. If you don’t want to use the bloated full Facebook app, this widget is a great way to keep up with what’s going on without the battery drain.

Weekly App Picks

These are apps featured in our “Download This” series. Not all of these apps launched in the last month, but we try to highlight apps that most people don’t know about. You might find a gem.

Apps: DIVIDE, Hermit, Shuffly

Apps: Energy Bar, HomeBot, Overlays

Apps: KinScreen, Snap Swipe Drawer, Muviz

Apps: Flow Home, Messenger, PlayerFM

Updated Android Apps

Some of the biggest app news comes from app updates. We try to highlight big updates to apps that introduce awesome new features deserving of an entirely new look at an app.

EarlyBird – News for Android

EarlyBird received a much-welcomed update this month. Users can now switch to a dark theme. The dark theme enables a black background, black cards, and a dark red Breaking News background. If you use your phone in the dark a lot, or just prefer darker apps, check out this update.

Channels – Forums for Android

Channels is an app for communicating with people who use the same apps and games that you do. This week, the Channels app added device channels. Now, you can talk with people who have the same phone as you. When you install the app it automatically adds you to the channels for the apps, games, and phone you have.

WhatsApp added a couple of new features this month. First, you can invite people to group chats easily with public group links. Just send the link to anyone and they can join. The second new feature is the ability to lock specific conversations with a passcode. Keep prying eyes out of personal conversations.

Best of the Best

The Google Play Store has hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from. This list only scratches the surface. We’ve published numerous “Best Apps” lists for everything from dating to education. Check out the lists below to explore even more!