Best Mobile Apps for Smartphones

In the battle to get more attention to their businesses, marketers are opting to develop a mobile app rather than investing in a website. Today, mobile users outnumber desktop users by a 2:1 ratio, and this gap is rapidly increasing as more people embrace mobile technology and vote in favor of convenience, ease, and the excellent user experience provided by mobile applications for smartphones.

Different studies show different numbers, but the result is pretty much in favor of mobile apps. In a global survey conducted, 85% of the people preferred to use mobile apps instead of mobile website. Smartphones and mobile apps have simplified lives of people to a very large extent and have the capability of performing almost any task.

The Most Popular Mobile Applications for Smartphones

There are thousands of apps out there, and choosing what to install on your brand new smartphone is always a tough ask. Whether you want to use your device for work productivity, or set it up as a one-stop streaming shop, or even use it as your daily gaming rig, the choices are endless. Let us guide you through some of the best available apps for various platforms -

1. The Best Android Apps

   Google's Android operating system has revolutionized the mobile app market. With more than 80% of the global market share, Android has gained immense popularity and is used as the OS for not only smartphones, but for smart watches, automobile dashboards and HUDs, and even refrigerators! Some of the most downloaded android apps are listed below -

   

   1. Gmail: One of Google's most famous products, Gmail is an easy to use email app which allows you to sift through and manage multiple inboxes easily. The app allows a free storage of 15 GB and is one of the most downloaded android apps in the Google Play Store.

   

   2. Facebook: The most popular social networking mobile app, Facebook helps you to keep up with your friends, share videos, photos, and posts. The app is regularly updated, and integrates well with the Android notification center to allow quick access to posts, messages, etc.

   

   3. WhatsApp Messenger: This is a free messaging app on android which allows users to message and call their friends and family using their mobile internet connection. Owned by Facebook, this app is used by more than 990 million people, and is uber popular amongst youngsters and teenagers.

   

   4. Google Maps: Another proprietary Google app, Google maps for android makes navigation faster and easier. With comprehensive and accurate maps for over 220 countries with voice-guided GPS navigation, this app is one of the best navigational apps out there, period. In many countries, this app even supports offline maps.

   

   5. YouTube: This is Google's official video streaming app and can be used to stream music videos, TV series', learning tutorials, movies, etc. Users can subscribe to favorite channels, share it with friends, and watch on any device. Recently, YouTube Red, a paid subscription was launched in several countries to provide ad-free access to users along with several other benefits.

   

   6. Google Fit - Fitness Tracking: This is an app by Google which effortlessly keeps track of all your activity such as running, walking, cycling, etc. The app gives instant insights on how much activity is done and how many calories are burned, etc. It also syncs with your Android wear device, so you can use it on-the-go.

   

   7. Google Play Books: This app allows users to choose from millions of books including bestsellers, textbooks and free classics. Users can easily adjust the font size and customize their reading experience, while being able to import their own .epub files without having to buy them through the Play store.

   

   8. Hangouts: Using this app people can keep in touch with friends, make free video calls or voice calls and can join a conversation with a single person or a group. People can buy calling credits easily, and the app integrates smoothly with your SMS and calling app to provide a seamless communication experience.

   

   9. Flipboard: One of the most beautiful and functional apps out there, Flipboard is a personal magazine app using which you can keep up with the latest news, follow topics you care about, share stories, videos and photos that influence you, etc. It's USP lies in the amount of customization one can make within the app to ensure curated content which suits your requirements only shows up within the app.

   

   10. Google Play Music: This app provides free, ad-supported radio with hundreds of different music channels, as well as featuring a paid service for ad-free music. It allows users to store up to 50,000 songs from their own collection as well, and looks extremely good too!

2. The Best iOS Apps

   Apple's iOS operating system is the reason why we have a plethora of options to choose from when it comes to smartphone apps in the first place! Apple with its cutting-edge technologies has always been raising the bar for its competitors with every new release. Some of the popular iOS apps are listed here:

   

   1. Snapchat: This app allows you to easily talk to friends, view live stories from around the world and explore news in the new Discover mode. What started out as an innovative app to send timed "snaps" to a selected list of recipients which would then auto-delete, has now expanded into a multi-functional video and photo app used by countless users.

   

   2. Instagram: It is the world's most popular photography app, and offers users a simple way to capture and share their moments with the world. It features numerous filters to turn everyday photos and videos into works of art, while allowing users to share them with family and friends. It also supports hash tags thereby making photo discovery a lot easier.

   

   3. Pandora: One of the oldest music streaming apps, Pandora gives unrestricted access to great music at no cost. It is easy to create personalized stations that play the music you love, and offers and elegant and simple user interface for users.

   

   4. Angry Birds 2: The latest in a long run of fun to play games, Angry Birds 2 is already a massive hit on the iOS platform. Its addictive slingshot gameplay, combined with intuitive controls, great graphics, challenging multi-stage levels, etc. offers users across the globe a great experience while bringing in much-needed improvements over the first few games.

   

   5. Spotify: Used by millions of people over the world, and supported in more than 20 countries, Spotify remains one of the best apps to listen to music. Users can search for an artist, track, or album from a list of artists curated based on their likes and dislikes, and has allowed music to become a social phenomenon for the new generation. It has both a free, ad-supported tier as well as a paid tier, and offers family plans as well.

   

   6. Twitter: Twitter is a micro-blogging app which allows users to follow top stories through pictures, clips and conversations, connect with celebrities, politicians, sports stars, etc. Users can send out tweets supported by hash tags, and is currently used by more than 320 million people around the globe.

   

   7. SHAREit: This is one of the fastest ways to share photos, videos, contacts and any other kind of file between multiple devices. It works without mobile data, and has zero file size restrictions. For Apple users, this app is a boon since Apple devices tend to be locked into the Apple ecosystem. With the help of SHAREit though, Apple users can send files to and from Windows devices as well.

   

   8. Dubsmash: This app makes it easy and fun to create hilarious dubbed videos. Users can dub well-known quotes and sounds in order to produce funny videos you can then share with your friends.

   

   9. Viber: An alternative to Skype, this app can be used for making free video and voice calls, as well as for sending messages over mobile internet for free. With more than 100 million active users, Viber is an easy-to-use VoIP app and allows iOS users to chat with people using phones or PC's belonging to a different platform.

   

   10. Find my iPhone: This app serves as the first line of defense for people who tend to be forgeful, or are just plain unlucky. As the name suggests, this app can help recover lost or missing iPhones, and provides a detailed map with the device's last known location. Users can also use the app to remotely lock and wipe the phone of all personal information.

3. The Best Windows Phone Apps

   Although the most recent entry into the mobile app world, the Windows phone OS has already created a lot of buzz for its differentiating looks and tile based display. Some of the most popular Windows phone apps for smartphones are listed here -

   

   1. Microsoft Outlook: This is Microsoft's email app which allows users to access all their mails, calendars, and files in one convenient place. Outlook is convenient not only for enterprise users, but for daily use as well, and integrates with the Windows OS at a core level, for example, meetings responded to from within the app directly show up in the phone calendar.

   

   2. GoToMeeting: This is an easy way to attend meetings on the go. This app works on all Windows devices and gives users an easy online meeting solution. Using this app, people can view slide presentations and spreadsheets in real time, design mockups, generate reports, etc.

   

   3. Netflix: Netflix is one of the world's leading subscription services for watching TV episodes and movies on your phone, tablet, or even the PC. Netflix provides users with a subscription based model which is not only cheap on the pocket, but has single-handedly helped in the demise of on-disc video.

   

   4. LinkedIn: This app makes it easier to connect to the people in your professional world. It helps to build and nurture your professional network and stay updated with the latest industry news.

   

   5. OneDrive: One of the best cloud storage apps out there, OneDrive is an app developed by Microsoft for storing photos, documents, videos, and other files. These files are safely backed up and can be accessed from any of your devices. OneDrive comes preinstalled with Windows 10, and allows for real-time file syncing and viewing, alongside a host of other benefits.

   

   6. Microsoft Health: Using this app, users can set fitness goals and get important insights to help them live a healthier life. The app consists of easy-to-understand charts and generates detailed graphs to track your goals. It also syncs with Microsoft band, the health tracking wearable for seamless user interaction.

   

   7. Adobe Photoshop Express: This is an entry level photo editing app for basic photo cleanup and manipulation. It consists of basic tools such as cropping, straightening, rotating, and red-eye removal. What sets this app apart from the rest is that it has the ability RAW files, while incorporating various social features within.

   

   8. Microsoft Hyperlapse: This app allows users to quickly and easily create stabilized and smooth time-lapse videos from their phone cameras. It uses advanced algorithms to detect movement and is a boon for both amateur and professional photographers.

   

   9. Weather Flow: This is a beautifully designed weather app which makes good use of the platform's flat metro look and live tile widgets. Unlike most other weather apps out there, its beautiful interface draws viewers in, and has both a free ad-supported version as well as a paid version.

   

   10. Microsoft Translator: This is an easy to use and feature-filled translation app. It supports text translations and also has a camera-assisted translation feature which sets it apart from other translator apps out there. It can translate more than 50 languages, and allows users to store translated conversations for future use.

Choose Outsource2india for Mobile App Development

We at Outsource2india believe in providing our customers with high-quality apps which have not only feature a great user experience, but allow them to leverage the power of a modern day smartphone. We have the required expertise in developing new and innovative smartphone apps on different platforms such as Android, iOS, etc.

If your mobile app development requirement is incredibly niche, or you are looking to make a mark in an already-clouded field of similar apps, we can help!

Contact us right away and let your app idea turn into reality!