What non-game paid apps do you use that are worthwhile and still relevant in 2023?
For context, I have a decent amount of Google Play credit thanks to Opinion Rewards and a gift card. I’m not looking to start a book or movie collection there, nor sign up for subscription services. But I’m happy to buy the paid/pro version of useful apps.
I’m excluding games just because that’s a whole topic on its own.
Here are some one-time paid apps I’ve been happy with:
FairEmail : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.email
The best email app.
Business Calendar (by Appgenix Software)
I have multiple Google calendars to keep track of pretty much everything; birthdays, anniversaries, bills, when school is in session (I have kids), scheduled days off, various appointments, etc. I’ve been using this since 2011/2012 with their first version, and moved over to the 2nd version after that came out. It gives me more control over how my calendar looks on my phone, I can easily toggle calendars and tasks on or off…
Honestly, I can’t use another calendar app now. I love my color coded (you can change calendar colors in the app to any color you want) month at a glance calendar.
And I also can’t recommend KWGT enough for widget making. I originally got Zooper to try to emulate Conky (from Linux), but Zooper stopped being developed. I have a lot of fun trying to get my widgets just the way I like them - even if my code is a mess.
Absolutely, Business Calendar is my #1 app.
Threema, the DWD app (if you’re German) and Nine (if you have an Exchange server)
The only app I’ve paid for is Torque Pro. If you deal with cars a lot it’s worth the 5 bucks. The free version is also pretty handy.
I dunno. I just wish torque looked a little better. I don’t like the interface at all. But it’s a great app for troubleshooting car problems.
Im in the same boat, Ive got every imaginable app thats useful to me but Ive got about $75 in rewards
Instead of Titanium Backup (which I paid for long ago and highly recommended back in the day), a more modern and mantained solution that has been rock solid for me is Swift Backup: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.swiftapps.swiftbackup
And for regular folder backups I haven’t found a better alternative than Folder Sync Pro: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dk.tacit.android.foldersync.full (Has a free version if you want to try it)
Moonreader - ebook reader
Onkyo HF Player - High Fidelity Music Player
CDisplayX - Comic Book Reader
Listen Audiobook Player
Moonreader is amazing!
And if you have a folding phone, it splits in half like a book! Totally awesome
Bitwarden
- Mixplorer Silver - Feature-packed File Manager
- Hermit - Lightweight PWA browser
- Instaddr - creates disposable Email addresses
- Readera - Feature-packed book reader
- Moon+ Reader - Feature-packed book reader
- Balance - for Meditation. They have been offering a one year free trial for some time now. It has been really helpful for me. Their programs are highly customised to achieve your goals. Give it a try.
- KWGT & KWLP - if you’re into home screen customisation, then these are must haves.
- 1DM - Feature-packed Browser and Download Manager (Direct downloads & torrents)
- Niagara Launcher - Lightweight, minimalist, with solid, fluid animations. One-hand friendly. Free version has ZERO ADS. I’ve been using the free version for a couple of years now. I’m hooked to it. I don’t think I can go back to a normal App Drawer drawer style launcher now. They offer one time purchase as well for the pro version. I felt no need for the pro features, though i’d definitely buy the pro to support the dev.
Some of these have decent free alternatives. Mixplorer is free to use officially through XDA. KWGT & KWLP have free ad supported versions available through their official website. Regardless, these have been installed on all my phones for years now.
niagara launcher is great!
Thanks for the shout out for Hermit!
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Didn’t know that, but I can’t seem to find it on fdroid.
oh sorry mistook it for Librera, librera is the one that’s paid (PRO version) but is free on fdroid
1DM+ and Hermit are the apps that have been in my constant rotation of use among the apps I bought. SeriesGuide too for tracking tv and movies.
Found I have replaced lot of apps with Foss alternatives over the years, so been buying apps less and less.
- Slice & Dice is a fun game here and there
- Poweramp Equalizer is pretty nifty if you use decent headphones or swap listening devices frequently. You can save profiles per device.
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Ah yeah that one should have been on my list. Been running it for years. Good call.
I paid for Tilla, it’s a great app to manage subscriptions. I get notifications when the next payment is due. Pretty simple UI but that’s what I like about it. You can check how much you spend per week/month/year.
That’s a good suggestion. I don’t think I personally have enough subscriptions to need Tilla but I could see it helping a lot of folks.
Sync for lemmy.
For online and offline GPS I love OSMAnd+ since it has AndroidAuto support and tons of other features.
You can get it free if you use F-droid!
It is called OSMAnd~ on F-Droid. It does not have support for AndroidAuto. I ended up buying the licensed version for that and to support the devs.
Titanium backup doesn’t work anymore on latest version of android…
Last time I tried it, the restored applications would just crash, and the ones that did work don’t have the external data backed up
Yeah, Swift backup is the go to now
I switched from Swift Backup to Neo Backup. Don’t regret it. Neo is open source (F-Droid) and backups aren’t locked to your Google account like Swift.
