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

Welcome to the 357th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from the last week:

• Google Photos has a new live wallpaper option. It’s nothing too fancy. The app simply cycles through images from your account on your home screen. The feature is included with version 5.22 of the app. It’s a bit rudimentary and you can’t choose stuff like the folders or images. However, the feature should improve with future updates.
• Lionsgate Play launched in India this week. It enters a crowded streaming market in the country. The app boasts a collection of Hollywood titles as well as Indian originals. It runs for Rs. 99 per month or Rs. 699 per year. That’s a lot cheaper than Netflix or comparable services. Hit the link to learn more details.
• Discovery announced its new Discovery Plus streaming service this week. The new streaming service has a fairly typical price tag of $4.99 with ads and $6.99 without ads. It includes shows from HGTV, The Food Network, TLC, OWN, Animal Planet, and some others. We’re not excited to see yet another streaming service, but you can hit the link if this one seems up your alley.
• Spotify launched its 2020 Wrapped campaign for the year. It shows Spotify users their top tracks, top albums, and includes some stuff like quizzes and badges. It remains one of the coolest things any music streaming service does and Spotify fans are already posting theirs on social media. Hit the link to learn how to check yours.
• Google Play chose its picks for the best Android apps and games from 2020. The company also listed the user choice selections as well. Some of the apps and games include Disney Plus, SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, Zoom, Dolby On, Bazaart, Genshin Impact, Sky: Children of Light, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, Legends of Runeterra, and more. Hit the link to read all of the selections.

Brightness Control

Price: Free / Up to $1.49

Brightness Control is a fairly straightforward app. It lets you control brightness on an app-by-app basis. The app itself lets you choose the apps on your phone and dictate a brightness setting. It then runs as a service in the background. You open any app and the app lowers or increases the brightness as needed. The UI is clean and it’s fairly easy to use overall. It’s a niche app so we don’t think a ton of people need it, but it’s a nice tool to have anyway.

The First Tree

Price: $4.99

The First Tree is an adventure game with a decent narrative. Players control a pair of foxes. The first is looking for her lost family and the second is looking for his estranged father. The story is pretty short, but the game play is fun. The graphics are also pleasant. It’s a nice game to look at. It has a fairly high rating on Steam as well. The price is a bit high for how short the story is, but otherwise this one is pretty good.

Remind Me

Price: Free

Remind Me is a simple reminder app. It takes any reminder and sends you a notification when you need it. It’s a fairly simple experience. You input the reminder and some details about it. You then set a time and wait for it to show up later. One of the failings of more popular apps is the need to pay for notifications a lot of the time. This app does only that one thing. You can also check the scheduled notifications and notification history just in case. It’s totally free and it’s a good, super minimal reminder app.

The Bonfire 2

Price: Free / $4.99

The Bonfire 2 is a simulation game with city building elements. You start building a city from the ground up much like SimCity or Pocket City. However, this one throws a few wrenches into the genre. Your city is attacked at night by monsters and building placement is important when expanding out. The world is randomly generated as well. You can play the first ten days in the game for free. After that is a single $4.99 in-app purchase to unlock the full game. Good premium simulation games are rare and this is one of them.

Poweramp Equalizer

Price: Free

Poweramp Equalizer is an equalizer app from the developers of Poweramp music player. It is a whole lot more than most equalizer apps. It has a customizable number of equalizer bands for more granular controls with a maximum of 32 bands. The app supports most third party music streaming apps and music players, including Poweramp. Some other features include MILK presets support, volume key remapping, per-device presets, and a bunch more. This is an early access beta and there are bugs. The developers do a good job listing most of the big ones in the Google Play descriptions. It’s otherwise free to download and use.

Thank you for reading! Try these out too:

• 10 best Android customization apps
• 15 best adventure games for Android
• 10 best reminder apps for Android
• 15 best simulation games for Android
• 10 best equalizer apps for Android

If we missed any great Android app and game launches or news, tell us about them in the comments!