5 Android apps you shouldn't miss this week! - Android Apps Weekly

Welcome to the 167th edition of Android Apps Weekly! Here are the headlines from the last week:

• Google Play is currently trying out individual game ratings. The way it works is you rate titles based on game play, controls, and graphics. The scores for each category lets people know how good those qualities are for a more comprehensive look at the game. It can also warn people if games don’t have good controller support or have great graphics but otherwise suck. We’re not sure if this is going to roll out to everybody, but it seems like a good idea.
• So Twitter banned its own CEO this week. In an act that essentially summed up how bad it’s been at Twitter lately, Jack Dorsey spent a good portion of the day not being able to view his own Twitter account. He did eventually make it back on and told everyone that it was an internal problem that caused the ban. There’s nothing of real note here, but it was kinda funny.
• It was announced this week that Google is ending Google Play Services support for Android Gingerbread. The change will happen in early 2017. By removing Gingerbread, Google Play Services will become a little more modern in nature and give developers more options for building apps. The number of devices that even use Gingerbread is only about 1.3%. Also, most apps don’t support Gingerbread anymore anyway.
• The latest Humble Bundle is live! This bundle features tons of games from HandyGames and includes Clouds & Sheep, Rocket Island, 1942 Pacific Front, and plenty of other games that would cost you $42 to buy individually. You can pay what you want and get five games, pay a $3 minimum and get up to 11 games, or pay $5 or more to get the whole bundle. It’s a good way to get some games on the cheap and give to charity.
• Google Play is tossing a huge games, apps, books, movies, and more sale in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You can get stuff for up to 80% off and some of the titles are rather expensive without deals. It’s a good time to stock up on some stuff. We don’t know how long these deals will last, though, so be sure to get them while you can. Click the previous links to see the deals!

For even more Android apps and games news, updates, releases, and more, check out this week’s newsletter by clicking here! There you’ll find a bunch of stuff that we didn’t have the space for here. You can sign up for the newsletter using the form below if you’d like and we’ll send it to your inbox every Sunday! Also, don’t forget to check out the Android Authority app!

[Price: $5.99]
Eisenhorn: Xenos is an adventure game that takes place in the Warharmmer 40,000 universe. It’s an adaptation from a book of the same name. You’ll be able to explore the world, take part in various quests, and the game comes with full voice acting. The graphics are also pretty decent. Unlike most Warhammer games these days, this one is a pay-once title with no in-app purchases. It also has full game controller support if that matters to you.

[Price: Free]
Chase Bank has released its own NFC payment app called Chase Pay. It’s about what you’d expect from an NFC payment app. You’ll be able to log into an existing Chase account and use the cards on file to make purchases. It’s brand new which means there are plenty of bugs that need to be worked out. Also, the app only works at Best Buy and a few other places right now but we expect that to increase over time. It’s not very good right now, but members of Chase Bank should keep an eye on it.

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Gear.Club is a racing game that boasts a realistic experience. Underneath its bravado, it’s a fairly standard freemium racing game. You’ll race various tracks at various locations to win various championships. Above that, there is a large selection of cars to collect, optimize, and upgrade. The graphics are simply astounding although other parts of the game could use a little bit of work. It’s not quite prime time yet but we’re sure it’ll get there eventually.

[Price: Free / $0.99 per month / $1.99 per 3 months / $5.99 per year / $10.99]
Pulse SMS is a hybrid of a texting app and a Pushbullet competitor. On its own, the Android app functions as a good, if slightly basic SMS app. However, you can download the app on various platforms and share the SMS messages between them. That means you can text on your tablet or your computer if you want to. Like Pushbullet, there is a subscription service although you can get a lifetime license and not have to worry about it if you want to. It’s a little buggy as new apps are, but it’s definitely going to get better over time.

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Microsoft Solitaire Collection is an Android port of the popular Solitaire games available on most Microsoft Windows machines. The game includes five total variants of Solitaire, including Klondike (classic), Spider, Freecell, Tripeaks, and Pyramid. This adaptation also includes daily challenges as well as Xbox Live login support where you can earn actual achievements. It’s a time waster through and through. You can also get a premium membership for a recurring charge that removes advertising and gives you in-game boosts.

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If we missed any big Android apps or games news, tell us about them in the comments! To see our complete list of best app lists, click here.