Boot up your Android device with these launcher apps

One of the things that I love about my Android phone is the ability to customize wallpapers, themes, icons, you name it. Custom launchers are the other main apps Android users can use to help customize the phone to be what they want and need it to be. I have tried a few of them over the years with, and GoLauncher is the one I have used the most. In todays post I cover a few of the other launchers out there. A couple quality apps not mentioned here were covered in a post back in December 2012. Vire Launcher (Free) VIre Launcher comes in free and pro versions, and its available for most Android devices out today. The pro version has some added features, but the free will probably suit most users. With Vire you can add 3-D effects to your phone....

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New Android apps worth downloading: Facebook Home, Fotor - Photo Effect Studio, Epic Pirates Story

Facebook Home has finally hit the Google Play Store! Facebooks new app lets users add social networking feeds from the service to their home screens and integrate the service a lot more deeply into the Android experience, but it's currently available for select devices. We've also got the powerful photo-editing app Fotor Photo Effect Studio, and Epic Pirates Story, a simulation game in which you build up a powerful band of scallywags so you can take down an evil pirate king who's terrorizing the Caribbean. Best Educational Apps, Handpicked By Experts Appolicious is pleased to introduce appoLearning.com, where parents, teachers and students find great education apps. Facebook Home (Free) Whats it about? Facebook Home plugs the social...

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Why we created appoLearning

My son was born about a month before the debut of the iPad, and has quite literally grown up alongside touchscreen devices. As a parent and longtime app reviewer, I can tell you with conviction that most educational apps for the iPad stink. While there are countless educational apps that claim to teach my son how to do things like count, trace letters, or identify his home state on a map, the vast majority fail to deliver on what is promised in their iTunes Descriptions. I hear the same complaints from friends and family who are trying to find legit apps to teach their older children topics ranging from fractions, to physics to foreign languages. Downloading substandard educational apps is at best a waste of time and money. More disturbingly,...

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Zinio Guest Post: Digital magazines all mothers will love

Although we love to talk about the momeconomy and mommy bloggers, there is no typical mom. Theres no content that appeals to every woman who does what Jackie Kennedy Onassis called the only job that matters. But there is a lot of content that digital publishing has made available to the wonderful diversity that is mom. Here are are some of my favorites: Readers Digest: I know. Could we start out any more square and boring? But here us out. You havent seen Readers Digest in its digital version, which has gone way beyond the doctors office. It has become a great compendium of womens interests and issues and, to its credit, has focused on physical and emotional health without the celebrity obsession. Readers Digest digital is colorful and accessible....

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New Android apps worth downloading: SendHub, The Traveler, Rayman Jungle Run update

Today's apps worth downloading start with SendHub, an app that provides a free phone number over your Internet connection, which is great for business professionals. The Traveler is up next, which helps in documenting travels through GPS, photos, video, audio and even drawings. Finally, the popular platformer Rayman Jungle Run has just received an update that adds 20 new levels. Best Educational Apps, Handpicked By Experts Appolicious is pleased to introduce appoLearning.com, where parents, teachers and students find great education apps. SendHub (Free) Whats it about? SendHub sets you up with a free phone line for your business, and gives you the option to set it in any area code you want. Whats cool? Firing up SendHub gives you the...

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Android App Video Review: Nimble Quest

Many hardcore gamers have looked at Tiny Tower and Pocket Planes, realizing that there is quite a lot of talent over at Nimblebit, even if those kinds of social management games aren't their cup of tea. Many of us have been waiting for the day Nimblebit releases a more traditional kind of game, and that day is now here. Nimble Quest is still pretty casual, but it's also very creative and interesting. Essentially, it's the classic arcade game of Snake mixed with an RPG. Interested yet? Als o on Android Apps Founded by Anna Jarvis in 1908, Mothers Day is just around the corner. Zinios tribute to mothers offers magazines for the wonderful diversity that is mom. The game is simple as can be. You lead a snaking conga line of heroic heroes...

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New Android apps worth downloading: Do It! Pro update, Notifications Off, Dungeon Hunter 4

Get organized and accomplish your daily goals with Do It! Pro. The to-do list app syncs with your Google Tasks to help maintain organization of all the things you need to accomplish across multiple devices. For those of you with rooted devices, we've got Notifications Off, an app that gives you centralized control of all your device's notifications. Finally, there's Dungeon Hunter 4, the latest in Gameloft's action role-playing game series. Also on Android Apps Founded by Anna Jarvis in 1908, Mothers Day is just around the corner. Zinios tribute to mothers offers magazines for the wonderful diversity that is mom. Do It! Pro: ToDo & Tasks Lists update ($2.99) Whats it about? Do It! Pr o Is a task list manager that lets you sync...

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Facebook Home leads Android Apps of the Week

Facebook is back with a brand new app, and theyre after your free time. Facebook Home is its name, and replacing your current phones home screen is its game. Weve also got a cool way to share videos in Cinemagram, an upstanding new photo editor, a way to record your phone calls as MP3s, and even an app to help us all sleep better through the magic that is science. Here are the top Android apps of the week! Facebook Home (Free) The latest bombardment in Facebooks ongoing war against all productivity in the world comes in the form of this brand new launcher. This official Facebook launcher turns your home screen into a news feeding, status updating, and friend messaging machine. Facecbook Home is pretty basic, a bit clunky, and makes it harder...

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New Android apps worth downloading: Zombies, Run! and Pocket updates, Frontline Commando: D-Day

Need a workout plan? How about fleeing from hordes of the undead? That's what's on offer in Zombies, Run!, an app that provides a bit of a game, as well as a back story, to go with your jogging routine. We've also got an updated (and more social) Pocket, which allows you to save articles you're reading to return to them later. Finally, Frontline Commando: D-Day puts players in the boots of an Allied soldier in a third-person shooting game. Also on Android Apps Founded by Anna Jarvis in 1908, Mothers Day is just around the corner. Zinios tribute to mothers offers magazines for the wonderful diversity that is mom. Zombies, Run! update ($3.99) Whats it about? Make working out a it more terrifying with Zo mbies, Run!, a workout app...

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Crazy Climber reaches the top of Android Games of the Week

Have you ever wanted to climb up the side of a skyscraper? Chances are you've never had the chance to do that before, but thanks to the magic of Android video games you now have to chance to give it a try. But that's not all you'll get to do this week. You will also get the chance to drive futuristic race cars on futuristic race tracks, run past zombies instead of right into their arms, and play some hockey. Yay, hockey. Crazy Climber (Free) Thankfully, this game from ICLOUDZONE about climbing up the side of a building does not deal with the consequences of screwing up, and so there will be no emotional trauma from falling 70 floors off the side of a skyscraper to your bloody death. Crazy Climber is a family friendly game, an endless runner...

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New Android apps worth downloading: Facebook Messenger update, Cut the Rope: Time Travel, Anthill

Facebook Messenger received another big update for Android users, throwing in new multitasking capabilities. We've also got some new games to help you have some fun this week: Cut the Rope: Time Travel, which adds more complexity to the Cut the Rope formula, and Anthill, a strategy defense game in which you send ant soldiers to protect your colony. Also on Android Apps Founded by Anna Jarvis in 1908, Mothers Day is just around the corner. Zinios tribute to mothers offers magazines for the wonderful diversity that is mom. Facebook Messenger update (Free) Whats it about? Chat with your Facebook friends through the social network's dedicated Facebook Messenger app, which now supports voice features for Android users. Whats cool?...

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The best Android app for processing credit cards: Square Register

In a world where customers increasingly eschew cash, its plastic or perish. A number of apps have seized on the opportunity, but thanks to a big deal with Starbucks, Square Register has a head of steam. The brainchild of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Square Register has a lot going for it, but a certain future isnt one of them. Square has been locking horns with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation since January, when the agency delivered a cease and desist order for alleged violation of the Transmitters of Money Act. Our best guess is Square and the state will find a way to make amends. (iOS, Android Free) Applauding After swiping, customers can opt to have their receipt emailed, texted or printed. Appalling ...

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Five Android apps that lessen the stress of your daily commute

The first time I lived in Los Angeles there were no smartphones. I spent 45 minutes each morning and each evening traveling four miles on the 405 commuting from Westwood to Beverly Hills, which was infinitely boring. But we live in a new age, and these days we have tools to help you get where you're going more efficiently. Starting with navigation If you've been doing your current commute for more than a week, you've probably settled in on a route that you believe is the fastest possibility. Of course, if you're using popular navigation apps like Google Nav or Waze, it could be that you're wrong. Those apps, I've found when I try to use them to get around L.A., always put you on the freeways, though you do have the option of telling the map...

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New Android apps worth downloading: Swoon, Trial of the Clone, Sporos update

Looking to meet someone new near you? Try Swoon, the social networking app that lets you anonymously check out the profiles of people near you, and if you like them, you can escalate things to messaging and maybe, eventually, meeting in person. Weve also got Trial of the Clone, a gamebook app that lets you choose your own adventure as you read it, and an update to logic puzzler Sporos, which tasks you with taking over cells through careful puzzle-solving. Also on Android Apps Founded by Anna Jarvis in 1908, Mothers Day is just around the corner. Zinios tribute to mothers offers magazines for the wonderful diversity that is mom. Swoon (Free) Whats it about? Social network Swoon helps you find interesti ng people around you, and maybe...

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Zinio Guest Post: Help Save Earth By Reading Digital Magazines

Earth Day should be everyday. If only the world would be a little more veggie, a bit more green, and read more digitally, we would be a much more sustainable and environmentally sound planet. And, we would save and sustain trees. On a serious note, Zinio helps save more than 104,000 trees every month. And it contributes more wealth in terms of information and entertainment on our newsstand. We recognize we have a lot of magazines (over 5,500), but sometimes we look twice and realize we've aggregated more quality content in one arena or another than just about any source you can find. There's a lot of great writing and photography from a broad spectrum of journals from around the world. Zinio has something for everyone, whether it's the politics...

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Zinio Guest Post: Mothers Day Rewind, Parenting Picks

Last week we put the digital spotlight on moms. This week we shine it on moms-to-be. The Zinio newsstand has hundreds of family oriented titles, and womens magazines but for me its parenting calendar is the strongest. It ties together our international presence and shows the pure discoverability of our content. So, if youre a new mom, a mom-to-be or know one, check us out: Natural Child World: This just might be the best magazine that you never heard of in any category. Natural Child World is an upscale, environmentally conscious and international magazine that blends parents with parenting. What I like about it is that it doesnt set out uber-parents as the goal. It sets happy parents as the goal. And great design in the tablet format. Kiwi...

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New Android apps worth downloading: One Today by Google, Indigo, Manuganu

One Today by Google is an app that provides a new nonprofit project each day and allows users to donate $1 and share that donation with others. Next theres the Indigo Android app, a personal data assistant that answers your questions, followed by Manuganu, a running game with platforming elements, great graphics and controls that include the ability to stop, unlike other runners. Also on Appolicious Instead of celebrating Earth Day once a year, adopt an eco-friendly consciousness. Zinio s digital newsstand saves 104 thousand trees per month, and heres how you can get involved. One Today by Google (Free) Whats it about? The latest app from Google lets you be social and help out those less fortunate by p roviding you with new charities...

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Android App Video Review: Into the Dead

Into the Dead from PikPok is an endless first person runner game full of zombies, and ironically, in absolute defiance of all expectations and despite combining two of the most common tropes in mobile gaming, it's actually a very unique and stylish game unlike any other. That's probably due to the creativity of a developer like PikPok, though. Essentially, you're just dropped in the middle of a zombie apocalypse world, and immediately have to start running. As you run, you'll notice one or two zombies in your path, and then one or two hundred. The idea is to keep pressing onward, slanting your run left or run via tilt or touch controls to dodge any zombies directly in your path. You don't have to dodge them perfectly. Even if you hit one to some extent while dodging, you'll glance...

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New Android apps worth downloading: SlipperFits, Tango update, Big Win MLB

Get an idea if your Facebook crush also has a crush on you with SlipperFits. It lets you secretly poll Facebook friends for their feelings, without giving yourself away. We've also got an update to voice-over-Internet app Tango, which allows you to make free voice and video calls, as well as send text messages.. Finally, there's Big Win MLB, a card battle baseball title that puts you in charge of managing your own dream baseball team. Also on Android Apps Instead of celebrating Earth Day once a year, adopt an eco-friendly consciousness. Zinio s digital newsstand saves 104 thousand trees per month, and heres how you can get involved. SlipperFits (Free) Whats it about? Use Facebook to find out if friends you have feeling for share...

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One Today by Google leads Android Apps of the Week

This week brought us a new app from Google that's actively trying to make the world a better place, one day at a time, one dollar at a time. That app is One Today by Google, and it's the top app of the week. We've also got a new voice activated personal assistant, the ultimate travel-log app, a new way to meet people online, and a way to keep your business and personal lives separate, at least as far as phone numbers are concerned. One Today by Google (Free) Google may be a company hell bent on taking over the entire world, but it's always quite possible that they'll be benevolent and merciful new overlords, ushering us into a new age of peace and prosperity! At least, that's what you might conclude thanks to their new app One Tod ay by...

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