Despite the tendency to feel that getting work done from your smartphone means you’re “always working,” there are still those moments when it’s liberating to be able to finish off a quick task or respond to a company message without opening your computer.

I find that the real key is knowing the type of work you want to do getting your setup right. This is especially important when you head off on a trip or you’re at a conference where you’re more likely to have access to your phone when you’re crammed in a presentation or running from one room to another.

If you’re looking for a guide on what you need, or just some ideas for getting started, let us offer you a helping h. There are plenty of good apps services that you may not have heard of, or maybe you just need a tip about how to make them work best for you.

Think productivity

A good place to start is the essential apps for staying productive. Any Android device is going to include the default suite of services, of course: Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Chrome, more. at you need to know isn’t just that you need to download them, but how to maximize their utility.

The first tip I often like to share is that Gmail can hle Microsoft Exchange email accounts. This is a life saver if you don’t like the idea of needing to use multiple email apps for all of your accounts, such as if you have a personal Gmail but a work-issued account run by Office 365.

However, if you prefer Outlook or deeper integration with the entire Office 365 suite, then you may just want to grab the official Outlook app. Microsoft has done an admirable job of making its core services not just appear on Android, but work rather well. rd is very good compared to Docs, werint is far more capable than Slides when it comes to creating or sharing presentation slides. Microsoft’s cloud- mobile-first strategy means you aren’t making any compromises when you get an Android device.

ile some apps, particularly for the consumer space, often launch first on iOS, that gap has narrowed substantially. And in the world of business productivity, I’ve found that Android versions are now right there in terms of usability design with their iOS counterparts. And of course if you use G Suite, you’ll get the best deepest integration with Android. 

An important trend is to be willing to venture outside the sbox. Communication tools like Slack, Microsoft s, Hipchat, others are gaining popularity reducing the dependency on the inbox.

Slack

If you need to save articles for later, cket is probably the best of the bunch, but Instapaper still does an admirable job recently made premium free.

Travel smarter

The modern business life is going to put you in the air on the road often. That’s where the real value of making sure you have everything set up for your smartphone comes in, as you’ll have access to little bits of information without the need to pull out your laptop.

Business travel can sometimes be more complicated than when it’s for pleasure because you have more time-sensitive events on your itinerary. Meetings, names to remember, sticking to that itinerary is much easier to manage when you have a smartphone that does the thinking for you.

To help you along, you can first look at ’s tools. Trips automatically organizes your trip based on the details that are inside of your Gmail.

The same concept extends to Now, which displays cards for your flight, hotel information, will ping you about points of interest if you want to break away from the seventh hour of the on-stage presentation.

But how to get around? By now you probably know all about Uber ft. The former recently announced deep integration with Maps. You can now fetch a ride follow the driver’s rush to your location right within Maps.

Stay connected

often forget that the second half of the compound word in smartphone is phone. Sometimes, however, you need a smarter more capable one. Or maybe just a second line to separate personal business contacts.

There are some good second-line choices on Android. In general I’m a fan of ne2, as it has a good interface hles the duties of calls texts very well.

Another option worth looking at is Cloud one. ong with hling a second line, it can manage a conference call, record a conversation (be sure to get permission), will read your voicemail transcriptions. It’s not free, however, with plans starting at $10 per month.

Finally, there’s been some rumors about Voice getting a major reboot. The service has been stagnant for a number of years, so this would be most welcome. ’re not sure how this is going to look, as to whether it means deeper integration with Android, other services, or just more features like what you get with some second-line apps. ’ll have to wait see.

Keeping tabs on your tabs

But you don’t need to delay in finding out how to keep track of all those expenses. There are many good ones in this category like Expensify, Concur, Expense Reporting. 

I’ve taken a particular fondness to Expense Tracker, as it has a Material Design-friendly interface a lot of tools for managing the myriad numbers of receipts different expenses that you’re likely to accumulate on a business trip.

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Finally, I also enjoy Splitwise for, well, splitting the bill. This way someone with alligator arms can’t weasel their way out of it. This can of course be used for when you get together with friends or for a household of roommates that share expenses.

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The app ecosystem built-in tools give you just about anything you may need for the world of business. A little bit of forethought putting everything in place is all that’s really necessary for making your Android device a great productivity companion. It’s a fast-moving space, so be willing to experiment explore the latest tools when they arrive.