I’m sure there are countless apps out there that are incredibly cool, interesting, or useful, but just haven’t hit the mainstream yet. Maybe it’s a productivity tool that’s boosted your efficiency, a unique game that’s kept you entertained for hours, or a niche app that’s catered perfectly to one of your hobbies or interests.
What are some Android hidden gem apps that you’ve used a bunch or think it’s really cool/interesting/useful?
Please share your recommendations, and if possible, a brief description of what the app does and why you find it so valuable.
Looking forward to uncovering some hidden treasures in the Android app world. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.boyle.chris.sgtpuzzles
Several puzzles in one app, no ads, completely free.
Wow thanks! I play these on desktop all the time. I tried playing them from my phone browser and it wasn’t the same. Didn’t know there was an app! Thank you!
also available on fdroid
Github link incase you want to install it with Obtainium: https://github.com/chrisboyle/sgtpuzzles
Physics Toolbox Suite.
Most phones today contain a powerful array of sensors, and almost all of them are locked from easy access by the user. Physics Toolbox has functions that allow you to get the raw data from almost every sensor in your phone. It’s the only “tool” app that I can honestly say I’ve used as a tool. It has a sound intensity functions which I have used to determine if hearing protections is needed, and I’ve used that feature to diag a bad mic pickup due to an ambient white noise machine. It can give you the signal loss for a WiFi connection, very handy for troubleshooitng wireless access points.
Other features, magnetic field detection, tone generator, color matcher, g-force and rotation output, raw GPS view and more. All of these are available on the free version, but I actually use this app so much that I sent the 2 or 5 bucks to the dev mainly just to support them. The paid version also lets you export the sensor logs to a .csv file so you can view that data on a computer.
It really turns your phone from a glorified Lemmy portal into the cool future tool it was meant to be.
Phyphox is similar, not sure if it has all the same capabilities though.
This is a super cool thing. Thanks for sharing
Games:
Survivor.io - even though the name screams cheap shitty ad app, it’s pretty limited in ads (if any) and the game is a rogue like zombie killer. Each game plays out for about up to 15 minutes. One of my favorites.
Rebuild - a turn based strategy game about surviving the cities full of zombies.
Pawnbarian - a chess rogue like where you control a piece that has unique abilities. I believe they let you play part of the game as a demo.
Lifeline - a game you can get where you text some random dude who is lost in space. The game progresses over a few weeks and unfolds but you can only message him after he contacts you through notification.
Apps:
Nova Launcher - I have used nova launcher for probably like 10 years. I love the customizable options given and the ability to set gestures on icons.
Doctor on Demand - OK HEAR ME OUT. First, I live in America. Medical care is stupid. Also, I have children. Going to the doctors is like upwards of a hundred dollars per visit (if not more). Doctor on demand (through my insurance) is free. Even if you don’t have insurance, I think it’s only lope $50-$75 per visit. So… I recommend this for American users who need to see a doctor but may not be covered effectively.
Offline Survival Manual - haven’t needed to use it but good to have I’m thinking. You can print it all out through the app.
Survivor.io seems to be a crappy copy of Vampire Survivors which the base game is free on the play store and a lot better imo.
Vampire survivors released on Dec 2nd, 2022
Survivor.io released Aug 9th, 2022
Regardless, in the world of games (mobile games specifically, sometimes innovation is a leap frog off of someone else’s creativity.
Yea so it was released on Steam on Oct 20, 2022 so only a month after survivor.io released. Pretty crazy how similar they are. I can imagine that they were in development at the same time, I wonder if they took inspiration from the same source and put their own spin on it.
My understanding is that Magic Survival is the original source of inspiration for VS. Released in 2019, no less.
It was in early access since late 2021.
Rebuild has been great since it was a browser game. Solid recc.
https://www.f-droid.org/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/
StreetComplete! You can contribute to OpenStreetMap while walking around and having fun. It’s super fun and satisfying to unlock achievements while contributing to a useful project.
NeverTooManyBooks.
I have several books cases and shelves where I store books, this has helped me a lot to have a catalogue of them.
I just scan the book code, the app gets book info, and I assign it to a place where it is physically stored, like, bookcase 1 in office room, shelf 3 on main room, etc.
I have it installed from Droid-ify which is like an app to have more sources for f-Droid.
https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.hardbacknutter.nevertoomanybooks
Doing inventory of your physical stuff seems like a chore, but a very rewarding one for sure.
This is a pretty neat idea to be honest, I wonder if it exists for other kinds of media?
Strangely enough I find a bit of joy in doing things like that. I’ve got several books of paperwork I’ve been gradually scanning and organising in a paperless ngx setup. It’s a big hassle that ultimately doesn’t help me much at all (95% of the things in there are random things I could just get rid of and would never miss), but yet I do it anyway, and enjoy doing it
Yeah, I have actually thought about using paperless as well, but just the idea of beginning keeps me away lol.
I also think it is a chore because inventory used to be one of my work functions in a former job.
Ooh, saving this for later. I’m gradually reclaiming all our books from storage and this sounds very handy. Thanks for the tip!
Also I want to recommend Birday, it is a very simple birthday manager, and you can import birthdays from your calendars.
I intend to use this to remember birthdays and actually call people on their phones.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.minar.birday
This is incredible. I’ve been looking for something exactly like this. Thank you!!
This lets you connect to a lot of stations across the globe, by moving the globe
I used to love that place, but wasn’t on it much as it was a web site. I’m going to try the app.
URLCheck
Checks URLs for nasties like tracking links. Can also be used to open links in specific apps (where they don’t always want to)
Available on both f-droid and the play store.
https://www.f-droid.org/packages/com.trianguloy.urlchecker/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trianguloy.urlchecker
Atomas is a lovely little game about atoms.
I came to this thread looking for new games to kill time. Apparently I’m too stupid to make it past tutorial :(
It’s not you, my daughter had to show me how it’s played.
Minimalist Phone has changed my life. For anyone looking to either spend less time on social media or get rid of the digital clutter constantly bombarding you, this app is amazing.
It Filters my notifications so I can check them on my own time, it sets time limits on all social media and game apps and kicks you out when time is up, and it has a simple black background with no app icons, only the names of the apps you choose in white letters. Perfect for my over-stimulated adhd brain.
Brooooo I’m upgrading my phone and I’m definitely going to give this a go! Thank you!
X-plore file manager. I’ve been using it since UIQ days.
If you are not streaming music, but play your local library - PowerAmp.
Accubattery
Blackplayer > PowerAmp
Fight me.
Shuttle > all of them fight me
I’m in a fighting mood. I wanna beat up both of you.
Winamp. Everybody line up so I can just run down the row while holding my fist at face hight.
Winamp will bring the llama to whip all your asses!
Pulsar music player
Gonemad Classic is unbeatable imho, and I tried them all.
blackplayer used to be my favorite but it’s not as actively developed as it once was.
It’s already all the way developed!
X-Plore is amazing. Especially the FTP server is so useful, there simply is no easier way of moving files between devices.
And they provide a native SmartTV app you can control with the remote, it’s excellent.
I’ve been using Ghost Commander, but I might give that a whirl
I feel like poweramp has a mind of its own on whether or not it wants to actually shuffle your music. Whenever I put my music on shuffle, it’ll shuffle the songs, but then it’ll just play an entire album in order.
There are separate options for shuffling songs and categories (albums, artists, folders, genre, etc) and you can toggle them independently of each other.
Leafsnap - an excellent plant identification app. Can id from a photo of a flower, leaf or bark.
Merlin is similar but for birds. Also feeds all of the data you give it back to Cornell’s ornithology lab, which I’d normally be against, but in this case it’s for a great cause.
You can also troll various bird species by playing their calls back to them. Most will at least come in for a closer look, some will straight up strafe your ass depending on the season.
I like the inaturalist seek app better
Looks interesting. I’ll check it out.
How easily/quickly are plants identified on it? Leafsnap usually only takes a minute or so and has id’ed around 90% of what I’ve thrown at it.
But I do like the idea of tracking more than just plants and contributing to data gathering for science.
Edit: yep iNaturalist is much better. The search is about the same but its prioritizing results based on location is a good feature.
Yep it works pretty slick!
Thanks! Inaturalist looks way better and doesn’t require a subscription. Got a plant right away, and I like how it gets more and more precise as you move around the plant.
I’m not so up on what’s new and such, and I’ve really enjoyed a few games I’ve downloaded:
(Obligatory apology for any link or format issues. On mobile and first time posting.)
Scalak. You rotate and move blocks and pieces around to try to match up edges. Hard to explain. Kind of like the baby’s “put the square in the square hole” toy except for adults. It’s got really nice, calming music, so it’s nice to play before bed or offline on the plane.
MultiSudoku. Off-line sudoku that has five sudoku squares (?) attached together.
Word Hero. I love word games and this has been my favourite. It’s basically Boggle and after each game, it ranks the scores from everyone around the world who played the same game as you. Been playing this for years. Unfortunately online only.
Burnable Garbage Day. Earth has completely filled with rubbish, and a cleaning robot has woken up from a deep slumber to find out why the planet has become this way. Originally a Japanese game so the translations are a bit dodgy, but it’s a really fun play. I think it can be played offline. It’s been a while since I’ve played this.
Mahjong 13 Tiles. The only actual mahjong game I could find that isn’t like the old Windows tile matching game. This is the gambling version where there is no money bets, but you can play against bots. It’s been ages since I’ve played this so I can’t remember if it’s online or offline or if you can play against real people.
Dingbats. Guessing famous idioms from drawings. Can be played offline.
Quell Reflect. Moving a bubble around to capture all the gems. The puzzles get harder as you progress. Can be played offline.
Influence. You start with one cell (think Chinese checkers) and you keep spreading your influence to conquer the other players. Can be played off-line.
What the Forecast. Obnoxious, rude weather app.
Whicons. Minimalist white icon pack for Android.
BirdNET. Identifies birds by their call. I’ve used this in Canada and Australia.
Plant Net. Same thing as BirdNET but photos of plants. Also can confirm it works in Canada and Australia.
Edit: Forgot one game, Slitherlink. I set it to easy and listen to podcasts in the background to wind down at the end of the night. Each hexagon (or whichever shape you choose) has a number, and each number represents the max number of sides that can be selected. Eventually the entire board is connected via one line. You’ll have to read the description, it’s the best description I can give, albeit not a very good one.
Edit edit: This is what happens when I haven’t had my coffee yet. Kakuro is another numbers game like sudoku.
Skalak sounds like someone got tired of solving the eternity II puzzle.
Installed a couple of those to try. Thanks for sharing
Simple Text Editor
FOSS text editor for when you just literally wanna write something down without any weird bloat and without having to deal with Google. Available on F-Droid.
Also, OpenBoard for a FOSS keyboard with swipe typing. Also available on F-Droid
You know what, I think F-Droid is actually my hidden gem app. I’m sure most Lemmy users use it, but I don’t think I know anyone else IRL who does, so hidden gem might not be accurate depending on perspective.
Do you need to root phone to use F-Droid?
Nope
deleted by creator
r ur notes available on every device u log into?
Nope, just a simple app for writing text files. If you want you can save those files to the cloud but for myself, there’s a lot if times where I just want to draft something quick on my phone and it’s my go to
Niagara is by far my favorite launcher these days
I use it with Frequaw as the only widget to launch the apps I use the most
I rue the day Identiconizer falls behind on API versions and I won’t be able to install it on new phones anymore. Having identicons for contacts I don’t have photos for is just so much nicer than the plain letters.
Living Worlds has gorgeous low-power animated wallpapers
AlmostTI stops me from needing to learn how to use a newer calculator than the TI-84
I keep hearing good things about Niagara, but it seems like such a shift from what I’m used to
It’s very different but it’s so much faster to access the drawer and Frequaw covers 95% of what I used my home screen for
Frequaw looks great! I’m going to give it a try.
