Google Play Store Apps¶

These apps that I interact with daily or every once in a while and can be found in the app store. Apps that are free are indicated with 🆓 and paid apps/apps you need money for are indicated with 💸. Apps that are critical I mark with ❤️‍🔥 and apps that I don't necessarily need are marked with 🤔.

Twitter 🆓🤔 : I mostly use twitter to follow tech news and gaming news. Though it is definitely a place where you will lose a lot of brain cells.
Reddit 🆓🤔 : Reddit is a great source to find information on niche topics. Help guides are also usually amazing. However, 3^rd party apps are pulled...
LinkedIn 🆓❤️‍🔥 : Living without LinkedIn is possible, but it's a good way to build a career-centered network.
Instagram 🆓🤔 : A social media that I barely check and use to catch up with friends.
DEV Community 🆓🤔 : I used to be a heavy user of DEV, but the platform has not reached a renowned usefulness. It was great in early 2017-2018, but these days it's bombarded with top 10 lists and 90% of the content is over beginner web technologies.
[Harmonic]

Communication¶

Messages 🆓❤️‍🔥 : This default app for messaging actually isn't too bad... if you're chatting with another Android user. Talking with someone with an iPhone leads to compressed videos and pictures.
Telegram 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A great app to communicate with friends and family. Telegram is committed to keeping its customer data away from grabby agencies, which is always nice to see.
Signal 🆓🤔 : Initially installed it to chat with a friend. Not really used outside of that.
Viber 🆓❤️‍🔥 : The app isn't the best in my opinion, however, all of my relatives used it which is why it must be on my phone.
Discord 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A good way to build a community around a specific game/hobby. Discord themselves have been making weird decisions lately, but I'm pleased with how far its come since first using it in 2016.
Slack 🆓🤔 : Used for a small group of friends. Not used much outside of that (not even work lol).

Privacy¶

Bitwarden 🆓❤️‍🔥 : One of the best password managers on the market. No need to remember all of my passwords again!
SimpleLogin 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A great tool to use to sign up with newsletters or ticketing services.
Brave 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A must have on mobile. Probably the best way to browse the web (while having an adblock build-in).

Browsers¶

Bing 🆓🤔 : I mostly use bing for the Microsoft Rewards. Using ChatGPT for search is cool, but a gimmick for me at the moment.
Google Chrome 🆓🤔 : For a default, chrome isn't a bad browser. Brave just offers better features.
Firefox 🆓🤔 : Unlike on desktop, the mobile experience for firefox is a miss for me. It's incredibly slow at searching compared to Brave and Chrome. Hopefully the experience improves in the future.

Productivity¶

Google Keep 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A place to quickly jot down notes. May or may not end up here, but is a good place for information that is needed "in the moment".
GitHub Mobile 🆓❤️‍🔥 : I use this as a way to discover new open source projects. Currently one of the best ways to keep up with
Trello 🆓🤔 : I used Trello heavily in school to keep track of work. These days I prefer simpler todo lists or google calendar notifications. I intend to move most of that content over here.

Finance¶

Huntington 💸❤️‍🔥 : A banking app with a great UX experience.
Capital One 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A credit card app with polished interface. Probably the best experience for credit card payments/use on mobile.
Discover 🆓❤️‍🔥 : Not a bad experience for credit cards, but Capital One wins out with its focus on the tech experience.
Shop 💸❤️‍🔥 : A great way to keep track of products bought through shopify. Clean UI/UX and minimal ads :).
Fidelity 💸❤️‍🔥 : One of the better investment apps. Clear breakdown of investments and what's going on in the market on a given weekday.
Robinhood 🆓🤔 : Simple interface, but not a great spot to keep long term investments. Only used it for promotions.
Coinbase 🆓🤔 : Currently being sued by the SEC. Get the crypto assets out of here.
Yahoo Finance 🆓❤️‍🔥 : Though the desktop experience isn't the greatest, yahoo finance on mobile is great. It breaks down tickers well and has great insight on any stock.

Music & Audio¶

Youtube Music 🆓🤔 : My first music app on Android. Ads are annoying and the algorithm for new songs isn't as good as Spotify.
Spotifiy 🆓🤔 : Mostly used as a way to find new songs. My former music app that I use if I really have to.
Podcast Addict 🆓🤔 : A good podcasting app that just had too many banner ads. Can also get around the ads by paying.

Instant Pay¶

PayPal 🆓🤔 : PayPal was king for instant pay a decade ago. Nowadays it's riddled with scams and it's hard to get money back.
Venmo 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A great instant pay app. Used by all my friends and is convenient when you don't have cash on you.
Cash App 🆓❤️‍🔥 : Not as popular in my friend group, but still a great experience. Investing in the app is an interesting choice, but I stay away from that.

Games¶

Steam 🆓❤️‍🔥 : Steam's app experience is now greater than it has ever been. A great way to find games and connect to your pc game library with Steam Link.
Wild Rift 🆓🤔 : Played Wild Rift a lot when it first came out. Now it's dominated with microtransactions. I only play it if it's 2am, I'm in bed and I can't fall asleep.
Terraria 💸❤️‍🔥 : Great way to get the full terraria experience on the road. Controls are a little rough sometimes, but they get the job done.
Super Auto Pets 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A great way to make time pass by if you're bored. Unique playstyles can be generated every run.
Slay the Spire 💸❤️‍🔥 : My favorite card game ever. A single-player dungeon crawler that I've poured hundreds of hours into.
Dicey Dungeons 💸❤️‍🔥 : A new game I've found recently similar to StS. The catch is that you attack with dice. Also a fun experience.
D&D Beyond 🆓🤔 : Best way to keep track of your D&D character. Only used every 2-4 months with my college friend group.
Bloons TD 6 💸❤️‍🔥 : A legendary mobile app that can be played for hours on end. Bloon popping is just so satisfying to watch.
Board Game Arena 🆓❤️‍🔥 : One of the best ways to play board games on mobile. The app is just a PWA and could use some work, but the game catalog contains the best of the best.
Minecraft 💸❤️‍🔥 : The OG. Game of the decade from 2011-2021 and still going strong. Need I say more?

Video¶

YouTube 🆓❤️‍🔥 : Currently my most used app. Commentaries, science/tech, gaming and programming genres are my favorite.
Twitch 🆓❤️‍🔥 : The best livestreaming experience of any app. Not making the best decisions at the moment, but still has the best community and emotes.
Netflix 💸❤️🤔 : Will be removed once password sharing is added. Catalog is getting stale and Netflix themselves are making poor decisions.
Disney+ 💸❤️‍🔥 : I'm a pretty big Star Wars fan, is this is where that content lives. Everything else is hit or miss, so it may be dropped in the near future.
Prime Video 💸❤️🤔 : I share a family account and there are only a few tv shows/movies that are worth watching. But since I don't directly pay for prime, I'll keep watching The Boys, Invincible and The Grand Tour.

Misc¶

Duolingo 🆓❤️‍🔥 : On a streak of over 1000+ days learning Russian. Good for beginner sentences, but more involved learning would be better supplemented by another resource.
Home Workout 🆓❤️‍🔥 : Not the greatest workout app, but has kept me on track to staying fit and healthy.
Flipper 🆓❤️‍🔥 : Got a Flipper Zero in 2022 and have loved it. This app is the easiest way to update the firmware in my opinion.
Indeed 🆓🤔 : Not currently looking for a job and the job board itself is stale. Could use a front-end lift.
Kicstarter 🆓🤔 : I used to use Kickstarter to find interesting projects. But these days the projects end up being announced on Twitter anyway. Sometimes used for scams as well.
Microsoft Lens 🆓❤️‍🔥 : A great way to scan documents if you don't have one included with your printer.