If you used Windows between 1991 and 2001 then you have probably heard of (and used) WinZip.

Before Microsoft built the ability to unzip files into Windows XP, and before 7zip, WinZip was the de facto way to handle .zip files. Wind forward another ten years and WinZip is still around and it is now no longer just confined to Windows. There is WinZip for Mac, WinZip for iOS, and now WinZip for Android. I don't know how comfortable I feel about running any apps on my Android phone which starts with the word “Win”, but I will make an exception in this case.

Starting WinZip from the launcher puts you into a simple file manager which allows you to navigate around your device looking for a .zip to open. Once you click on a .zip file, it is expanded and its contents revealed. Inside the archive image, text, and web files can be viewed directly using the built-in viewer and other file types can be opened via the standard “Complete action using” Android dialog.

One thing I couldn't find was an option to expand a .zip file onto the SD card or the ability to extract a file from the archive. This seems to be one of the most basic needs for any decent .zip manager and I don't know why it isn't included. Popular file managers like Total Commander can do this.

Having said that, WinZip is available for free from Google Play and is compatible with Android 2.1 (Eclair), 2.2 (Froyo), 2.3 (Gingerbread), 3.x (Honeycomb) and 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich).