A great list of games, tools and themes to get you through the weekend
Saturday afternoon often brings many great things — one of which is our Apps of the Week column on Android Central. We carve out a slot on the site each week to give the writers here a chance to show off an app they’ve been using on their phone or tablet in the last week. We see games of all kinds, launchers, themes, alarm clock apps and beyond here, and there’s a good chance at least one will be completely new to you.
Hit the break to see our list this week, where you may just find an app or two to install on your own device.
Phil Nickinson – Jelly
Jelly is a new app from the creator of Twitter. Think of it as a spinoff, almost. Instead of posing a random question on Twitter and hoping for an answer, you do it here, in a dedicated app, with a photo. Tie it into Twitter and Facebook (which we’d recommend doing, at least at first) and you’ll see questions asked by friends of friends, significantly expanding things and making the experience a bit more useful. That said, that usefulness varies, as you can see in this example. Do take time to try to answer a few questions, though. The service is only as good as what gets put into it.
Download: Jelly (Free)
Jared DiPane – ClickUI
While this may not necessarily be an application that you can use or play, it is something that I have had installed and absolutely love. Click UI is a great theme that offers a ton of rounded icons for your Android device to change the look and feel. This particular icon pack will work with most of the well known launchers like Apex, Action Launcher, Nova and several others to give you a different look and feel.
What I like most about this one is that there are nearly 900 different icons included in the pack, so most of your apps are themed as soon as it is set. If you don’t like the icon they have set you can change it to one of the others that is better for you, and that is awesome. In addition the download brings a few really nice looking wallpapers for the device, one of which is shown in the photo above. For $1.99 I wouldn’t think twice about buying this and supporting the developer for all their hard work in cranking out these icons.
Download: Click UI ($1.99)
Andrew Martonik – TowerMadness 2
We all know the giant cropping of tower defense games out there (I play Fieldrunners 2 quite regularly), but one that’s standing out to me the last few days is TowerMadness 2. You’re using standard tower defense techniques with different weapons, upgrades and skills to save your herd of sheep from incoming hordes of aliens who have just landed on earth. It’s all fun and cartoonish, with a good (if a tad basic) soundtrack and great animation.
Beyond just the gameplay, this developer is doing all of the right things. You can sign in to track your progress against others with Google Play Games, save your progress across devices with Google Drive and play in true full screen with KitKat’s Immersive Mode. Best of all (for me) the game is $4.99, with no required in-app purchases or nagging for money. There are IAPs if you’re interested in helping out the dev, but you can play through all 40 levels without any extra dough. I always like to see games doing things the right way.
Download: TowerMadness 2 ($4.99)
Chris Parsons – Table Top Racing
If you’re a fan of Mario Kart with a side order of Twisted Metal then Table Top Racing is worth a look. You get a ton of vehicles, an arsenal of weapons and six different game play modes along with online capability. Battle your way to the front of the pack using whatever you can to get there. Controls are simple enough, IAP purchases aren’t too crazy but they are there should you want to ditch the ads. Overall, a pretty fun game with great graphics and plenty of re-playability.
Download: Table Top Racing (Free)
Richard Devine – TripIt
We’re right in the middle of travel season, what with CES just behind us, Mobile World Congress on the horizon, and who knows what in between and after. It’s during such times that TripIt really earns its spot on a device. The effortless way you can set it up to import your travel plans from your inbox makes it indispensable, especially if you travel a lot. It doesn’t just apply to flyers, though. TripIt will create trips for any form of travel, add hotel information, the works. I use it to keep track of my ever increasing train travel around the UK.
It’s worth mentioning this week in particular for the latest update which just pushed out. There’s some new itinerary sharing and alert capabilities, as well as added airlines for Pro users to track their frequent flyer accounts, including Delta, American, Southwest and United.
Download: TripIt (Free / Subscription)
Happen to miss previous editions of our weekly app picks? You can check them out right here. Our continuing weekly app coverage can also be seen right here as well.