The Android apps of 2012 worth paying for: A favorites list

BY

Published 27 Dec 2012

NSFW AI Why trust Greenbot

We maintain a strict editorial policy dedicated to factual accuracy, relevance, and impartiality. Our content is written and edited by top industry professionals with first-hand experience. The content undergoes thorough review by experienced editors to guarantee and adherence to the highest standards of reporting and publishing.

Disclosure
Favorite paid apps
favorite 20 paid roid app collection for 2012 100019147 gallery

Our favorite collection of paid apps for Android phones tablets this year includes new apps games launched in the past 12 months, as well apps that
received significant updates.

There are also a few all-time must-haves, including hy utilities some great advanced features apps for alarm clocks, music players, launchers
cameras.

rfectly Clear $1.99
perfectly clear 100019156 gallery

Even on high-end Android phones, camera photos can some times look dull faded. rfectly Clear uses a patented photo correction method that enhances
your photos.

You choose the type of correction you want to use on the photo, preview it, then apply the filter. There’s also an in-app purchase of $0.99 available
for a portrait correction pack, with skin tone smoothing, eye enhancing, teeth whitening filters.

View in ay

N.O.V.A. 3 $6.99
nova3 100019152 gallery

N.O.V.A. 3 is the closest thing to the Halo game franchise you will get on your Android phone. The graphics are among the best on the platform, you can
fight enemies on your own or connect to up 12 players in multiplayer mode over the b.

The controls, however, can be a bit tricky to master considering the large amount of comms you have available.

View in ay

Smart Tools $2.50
smart tools 100019160 gallery

Smart Tools is the Swiss Army Knife of Android apps. In one app you get a flashlight, compass, light meter, sound level meter, vibrometer, magnifier 10
other tools you probably didn’t know you could use your smartphone for, such as measuring angles.

View in ay

rd ns $1.99
word lens 100019161 gallery

rd ns is an app that makes use of augmented reality in a really practical way. You point your camera at what you want to translate, such as words
printed on street signs, walls, posters, magazines, they get instantly translated on screen.

There’s a demo version to try, while the paid version lets you choose from one of three languages (Spanish, French, Italian). You can also look-up
translations by typing them in or taping on a word, which some times can be more reliable than translation results from the camera.

View in ay

arm Clock Ultra $3
alarm clock ultra 100019143 gallery

If you are guilty of hitting the snooze button too many times, arm Clock Ultra has an ingenious way to keep you honest. To turn off the alarm you need to wake up to solve puzzles.

It comes with three difficulty levels the app also has a series of background sounds to help you sleep better, such as white noise nature sounds.
Free trial version available.

View in ay

weramp $2.49
poweramp 100019157 gallery

weramp replaces the built-in music player on your Android phone, as the name implies, it adds a bunch of new features.

You can play with the 10-b equalizer, use crossfading between songs, set playlists for gapless playback with no breaks between songs but no crossfading
either.

In terms of customizations, you can also change the app background. If you’re not sure you would use all these features, start with the free trial app.

View in ay

per Camera $1.99
paper camera 100019155 gallery

Go beyond Instagram try some novel filters for your photos. per Camera gives a new touch to your photos with 12 different original effects, to make
your photos looks like cartoons, sketches or coming books.

The results can be rather wonderful.

View in ay

SwiftKey $1.99
siwftkey 100019159 gallery

SwiftKey is your Android keyboard on steroids. The keyboard looks through your tweets, Gmail, Facebook posts SMS messages to learn the words you use
most often, so when you type new messages, it can suggest them at the top of the keyboard.

It’s also great for multilingual users, with 20 languages supported (up to three at once enabled), you can customize the keyboard layout with foreign
characters change the color theme.

View in ay

mSecure ssword Manager $9.99
msecure password manager 100019151 gallery

It might seem a bit pricey, but mSecure’s ssword Manager will prove its worth in time.

The app stores encrypted website logins, bank account cards details, even if you lose your phone, the app syncs them via Dropbox or -Fi so you
can recover them for your new device.

You can also generate secure passwords for each of your accounts, all controlled by a master password.

View in ay

Organ Trail: Director’s Cut $2.99
organ trail 100019154 gallery

Organ Trail is a retro zombie survival game from a small Chicago independent team funded via Kickstarter.

The aim of the game is to travel from one end to the other of a zombie-infested A, along with four friends (whom you get to name at the start) in a rusty
station wagon, scavenging for food, fuel killing zombies.

members might die of diseases during the game or you might have to put them down yourself when they get bit by zombies too.

View in ay

ZombieSmash $0.99
zombiesmash 100019162 gallery

If you want to test your zombie survival skills in a modern game type, then ZombieSmash is your choice, with a comedic twist to it. You will play the
character of ey, a lone survivor, fighting herds of zombies.

For a gory splatter, you can also try the endless siege mode, where you are confronted with a never-ending zombie onslaught.

View in ay

Scramble th Friends $0.99
scramble with friends 100019158 gallery

If you like rds th Friends, you’ll enjoy Scramble th Friends, where you have to make up the biggest words by touching together letters from a four by
four grid.

You can play with your friends or strangers online, each round has two minutes. tters have different point totals you get more points the longer
the word is. There’s a free ad-supported version available too.


View in ay

Camera Zoom FX $1.49 (on sale)
camera zoom 100019144 gallery

Camera Zoom FX is multifunctional app that is worthy of replacing your built-in camera app with some great features.

This includes tweaking autofocus white balance, setting the ISO speed focus metering, up to 10 shots per second in burst mode.

There are also a lot of post-processing options built-in, with dozens of filters color effects, textures cropping options.

View in ay

HD dgets $1.99
hd widgets 100019149 gallery

dgets are the core of the Android home screen this app takes them to the next level. HD dgets has over 85 widgets for Android phones tablets to
choose from, with various sizes for clocks, dates, weather, utility switches more.

If the built-in widgets are not enough, you can customize your own within the app to suit your taste for color, size functionality.

View in ay

Gr Theft Auto 3 $4.99
gr theft auto 3 100019148 gallery

The acclaimed classic console game brings the addictive game style to Android phones tablets. The graphics are very sharp considering the console game
came out more than 10 years ago.

ile the game is a copy of the console version, the controls are adapted to touch screens, so they might take some getting used to at first.

View in ay

Nova uncher ime $4
nova launcher prime 100019153 gallery

Nova adds a touch of sparkle to the stock Android launcher. You can change how many home screens you have, the number of icons in the dock, or other
details such as the folder background shape screen transitions.

The ime version also allows you to use gestures on the screen like swiping pinching to bring up the app drawer various other actions.

View in ay

Motiongraph $0.99
motiongraph 100019150 gallery

Motiongraph is an app from Sony that lets you create cinemagraphs, seemingly still images with movement in only one specific area.

The app records a few seconds of action, such as pouring water in a glass or flickering tmas lights. You then highlight the area you want to animate
the app freezes the rest of the video portions to create the special effect.

The resulting GIF files are usually good, as Motiongraph has built-in image stabilization allows controls of focus, exposure white balance too.

View in ay

Exchange by TouchDown $19.99
exchange by touchdown 100019145 gallery

If you’re looking for a solid Exchange client for your work email, this app is probably the closest thing you’ll get to Outlook on Android.

There are a few missing features though, such as a spell check, it can be a bit of a drain on battery if you receive large amounts of email regularly.

You’ll need to download the free trial version for your phone or tablet then download the separate key.

View in ay

Asphalt 7: Heat $0.99
asphalt 7 100019181 gallery

The latest installment in the Asphalt series is a must-have for racing games fans. You get to drive 60 luxury cars on 15 tracks set in real cities around
the world, against the computer or up to five friends online or locally.

There are 150 races to go though before you can finish this game. The graphics are great, but the game can be a bit slow to load on some devices.

View in ay

Falcon o $0.99
falcon pro 100019146 gallery

Falcon is a nicely designed third-party Twitter client, probably the most eye-pleasing for Android phones tablets.

The app has all the core features you would expect from a mobile Twitter client, with intuitive simple the app also has an internal browser so you
can check out links shared by the people you’re following without leaving the app.

View in ay