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10 best Android tools and utility apps

At their core, smartphones are tools. Let us help you use yours like one with the best Android tools and utility apps!
By
April 26, 2023
Find My Device - best android tools and utility apps
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

Smartphones are, at their core, tools. Because of this, many developers have created quite a few of tools for them that work really well. Simply put, there are tons of Android tools and utility apps out there. You can do a whole bunch of stuff with an Android phone. It’s actually a rather difficult topic for a best apps list. We’ll give it a shot, though. Here is a list of the best Android tools and utility apps to help you do more things.

The best Androoid tools and utility apps

2FAS

Price: Free

2FAS Authenticator
Joe Hindy / Android Authority

2FAS is an excellent two-factor authentication app and among the best 2FA apps on mobile. It handily keeps all of your two-factor authentication codes in a single place and lets you back them up for use on another device. The backups are encrypted, so it’s reasonably secure. You can also organize your tokens by what kind of websites they are. The UI is clean and easy to read as well. There’s very little wrong with this app in general, and it’s actually the one I, the writer of this article, use. It’s just great, and everyone should have 2FA enabled on every website or service that offers it.

Find My Device by Google

Price: Free

Find my Device - best Android tools and utility apps

Find My Device is probably one of the most valuable Android tools and it’s completely free. This app lets you ping the location of your device in the event that it becomes lost or stolen. It’s compatible with phones, tablets, and even Wear OS smartwatches. You can also lock your device, erase it, and show a message on your device to plead to the finder to return it. It’s a free service by Google and that makes it so nice. Those who want something a little more powerful should check out Cerberus. It does a lot of the same stuff, but also has more features if you don’t mind paying for them.

GasBuddy

Price: Free

GasBuddy screenshot 2021
Joe Hindy / Android Authority

GasBuddy is an app that helps you find gas. You can use it to find fueling stations on long road trips. Alternatively, you can use it in the city to find the cheapest gas in your area. On top of that, the app allows you to report the gas prices at stations nearby so you can help out fellow drivers. It only works in the US, Canada, and Australia for right now. The lack of support for other countries is one of only a few downsides. This one can actually save you real money and we like that a lot. However, the app may collect some user data and sell it. If you aren’t a fan of that, you may want to avoid this app.

GlassWire

Price: Free / Up to $9.99

GlassWire screenshot 2020

GlassWire is an excellent utility app for many reasons. It shows when apps use data. This is useful for a lot of things. For starters, those on tiered data plans can see exactly where their data went. Additionally, it’s useful for security purposes because you can see when apps send data back to their home servers. You also get customizable data alerts, a real-time graph showing your data usage, and other customization features. It’s perfect for those with tiered data plans and also the security-conscious. The premium version is also dirt cheap at $0.99.

Google Assistant / Google Search / Google Feed

Price: Free

Google App screenshot 2020

The official Google app is one of the most powerful tools on mobile. It can do almost anything. You can ask Google Assistant for the weather or to control your smart lighting setup. Google Feed provides a feed of relevant info just for your (although that does take time to customize). We all already know the benefits of Google Search. Google was nice enough to incorporate all of that functionality in a single app and that really makes it difficult not to recommend it to basically everybody. This is an excellent app.

IFTTT and Tasker

Price: Free

IFTTT screenshot 2022

IFTTT is another excellent Android tool. This app allows you to make connections between other apps. For instance, you can have the app upload a photo to your Dropbox after you share it on Instagram. That is just scratching the surface of all the things it can do. There are tons of apps that have IFTTT integration built-in and you can even use to do things like control your smart lights. There are thousands of recipes out there and you can find them by Google searching if you want to see them. Also, don’t forget about the upcoming Microsoft Flow and other, similar utility apps. Tasker is another great option in this space. It’s a little harder to use but it’s also more powerful.

LastPass Password Manager and Authenticator

Price: Free / ~$12 per year

LastPass is one of the better password management apps. It lets you store your passwords. The app fills in the passwords for you. You can sync the passwords across platforms for use on PC, mobile, tablets, and other devices. The free version works with a single platform while the premium version covers most other platforms. In addition, it’s relatively inexpensive to get the pro features. LastPass Authenticator adds another layer of security for the super security conscious. They’re both excellent Android tools.

MiXplorer Silver

Price: $4.49

MiXplorer Silver screenshot 2021
Joe Hindy / Android Authority

MiXplorer Silver is an excellent file browser and one of the best file explorers on Android. The base app costs $4.49 and comes with root access, various file browsing tools, support for most popular archive files, FTP server support, support for most cloud storage apps, and more. However, there are a variety of additional plugins you can add for even more functionality. They include a codec pack for most video and audio files, a PDF reader plugin, a plugin with even more archive file support, and even one specifically for SMB support. The cost is a bit high for a file explorer, but you likely won’t need anything other than this for a while.

Smart Tools 2

Price: $4.50

Smart Tools 2 is a collection of small tools that use your phone sensors. The app includes a ruler, a compass, a sound meter, unit converter, and even a QR code reader. This is one of those things where you only need something like this sometimes. For example, I once used the level function in this app to balance my washing machine. It saves you a few bucks having to go out and get a hardware version of something you may only need once or twice, and it’s helpful in a pinch when you need it. We like that it has a single cost with no subscriptions or in-app purchases as well.

Wifi Analyzer

Price: Free

WiFi Analyzer helps analyze your WiFi signal as well as other signals around you. For most, this isn’t overly useful information, but you can use the info gleaned here to optimize your router, get off of clogged WiFi channels, and perhaps even help improve your overall WiFi performance. It uses simple, easy-to-read graphs that virtually anyone can understand along with a signal measuring function and support for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. It’s also entirely free.


If we missed any of the best Android tools or utility apps, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.
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