The 36 best Android apps

30. BETTER KEYBOARD (£2.99)

The one thing we don’t like about Android is its standard onscreen keyboard. Fortunately, there is another way: the Better Keyboard offers compact Qwerty and full Qwerty layouts, easier symbol entry and, crucially, effective prediction and auto-correction.

You can also tweak text to your heart’s content, with extras such as the ability to use words in your contacts file in word suggestions, and the option to display blobs that show exactly where you touched each key. And there’s a raft of downloadable skins to give it a fresh new look. Excellent stuff.

31. BIGOVEN (Free)

Ideal for looking up those last-minute recipes, BigOven can be relied on to offer a variety of approaches to the dish you’re looking for. There are buying tips for ingredients, a random recipe feature for those looking to experiment, and a cookbook to store your favourite recipes.

32. TV GUIDE.CO.UK (Free)

This lightweight app offers programme listings for more than 400 channels, including Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, Freesat or Tiscali, covering a 24-hour period. A user-friendly interface allows you to customise listings to suit your needs, making this a simple but effective way of organising your viewing schedule.

33. TASK MANAGER (Free)

If you own an Android phone, downloading an app to control and kill applications running in the background is a must. If you don’t, your phone may slow to a crawl before you can say “I wish I’d bought an iPhone”. Task Manager is one of the best, allowing you to kill memory-hungry background apps and selected others whenever the phone is locked. A desktop widget lets you see how much memory is in use at any one time.

34. JEWELS (Free)

Clones of famous games litter the Android market, but Jewels – a tribute act for casual gaming giant Bejeweled – is one of the best. Three modes are included, but the standard and infinite modes pale in comparison to the super-addictive timed option, where you race against the clock to top the high-score table.

35. DOCUMENTS TO GO (£5.99)
Documents To Go has been a smartphone staple for a decade. The software allows you to view and edit Office documents on the move, as well as read Adobe PDFs. While only a sadist would perform serious document edits, it’s an effective way to take key documents with you.

36. ANDROMOTE PRO LICENSE (€2.98)

Playing media (specifically music with a UPnP streamer) can be laborious, involving switching on your TV, browsing your network shares then turning it off once your tunes have been selected. With AndroMote you can sidestep that process. It allows you to browse your network for UPnP servers, build playlists, and stream them directly to your player – all from the comfort of your phone.